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#387: Tristan Harris — Fighting Skynet and Firewalling Attention

The Tim Ferriss Show

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Huxley's Vision in Brave New World and Orwell's in 1984: A Comparison

Huxley's vision in Brave New World is characterized by a fear that people would have no reason to ban books because no one would want to read them. He feared that people would be given so much information that they would become passive and egotistical. He also feared that the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. On the other hand, Orwell's vision in 1984 is characterized by a fear of censorship and the deprivation of information. He feared that the truth would be concealed from people. Huxley believed that people would become consumed by distractions and desires, while Orwell believed that people would be controlled through censorship and restricted access to information. Both authors saw two possible ways for society to fail: through a top-down authoritarian regime or through overwhelming irrelevance and distraction.

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