"Doublethink"

So I was reading a post about how literature is being replaced by new technologies by Holly Boud, and it got me thinking about some of the concepts that are discussed in George Orwell’s book, 1984. One of the terms that the main character uses to describe how history is continually modified is the word “doublethink.”

Winston, the main character, works for the Ministry of Truth and his job requires him to continually edit backdated newspaper articles to put them in line with the current platform of Big Brother and the Party. By doing this, the past is effectively erased and the present is filled with lies so the truth cannot be discerned. Supposed facts of the past are continually replaced by false statistics and false statements just to keep citizens under subjugation.

The Party’s slogan, “who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past,” makes me wonder about how knowledge can be controlled and censored on the Web. If companies like Google or Facebook sought to guide individuals to certain avenues of knowledge, or even replace what has happened in the past by editing the content of the Internet, how could that affect the world. What is the implication of censoring information put on the Web?

A great example of how facts can be created on the Web that do not necessarily reflect reality can be found on sites like Wikipedia. Don’t get me wrong, Wikipedia has helped me find basic information on a plethora of subjects during my college career, but if all that people rely on are facts from Wikipedia, many people could be fed wrong information. Some examples of false info put on Wikipedia can be found in the article “25 Biggest Blunders inWikipedia History.”

Wikipedia is just a minor example of how information can be created that may not be real. People are controlled by the kind of information that they are able to ingest. I wonder if facts will be replaced by fiction to control people one day. It is something to think about.