Food for Thought

[TwoTankAmin]

When I was going through schooling one of the books we had to read was George OrWell's 1984. Thta is where we all met Big Brother and the saying (from the Google AI and it is accurate in this case for sure):

"Big Brother is watching you" is a phrase originating from George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984, where it's used to describe a totalitarian government that constantly surveils its citizens.

The phrase symbolizes any powerful authority that exerts excessive control and monitoring over individuals, often associated with a lack of privacy and freedom.

Origin and Significance:
George Orwell's 1984: The phrase is central to the novel, where "Big Brother" is the leader of the totalitarian government and his image and slogan are ubiquitous reminders of constant surveillance.

Dystopian Symbolism:
"Big Brother is watching you" represents a society where privacy is nonexistent, and citizens are constantly monitored to ensure ideological conformity and obedience.

Modern Usage:
The phrase has become a broader symbol for any form of excessive government surveillance, monitoring by large corporations, or any authority that encroaches on individual privacy.

When I was growing out and the Society Union was the great enemey, it used to be said that 1/2 of the people there were employed by the government to watch the other half and inform on them. The point was that everyone is being watched by the governement in order to control them. This was not a very efficient system.

Flash forward to current times. And think about how a governement could monitor all its cictizens all of the time. How could a government know where people were at any time and what they were thinking about? How can every individual be spied on? How about if we could plant a device on each and every person to be able to do this.

If I were the dictator in charge I would have revelled in the fact that today it is now possible to do very easily what was almost impossible in the past. I mean who would willingly allow themselves to be bugged and tracked 24/7? it would be a great acc0mplishemnt if we could convince people to allow this to be done willingly. Even better would be if people wanted to be bugged.

Say hello to the the Smart Phone. Want to enter the country? Hand over your phone for the authorities to check. Carry one with you turned on at all times so they know where you are and with whom you are spending time.

 

[Magnum Man]

my answer to that has always been... " I'm so boring, no one would want to know what I'm doing"

Mrs. cousin, used to be in charge of one shift, of positioning one of the formerly most powerful spy telescopes... she could never point it where she wanted to, there were always more important targets... but one day while repositioning it, she had the chance to do a "fly by" over her dad's house... he was in the yard, reading the news paper, & she could tell him word for word, what the story he was reading said... this always freaked out my wife... but I always said, if someone wanted to watch me doing chores, or pounding "T" posts and fencing, let them watch...

however, the Cell phone thing takes it to the next level, we are much more likely to do or look at things we don't think are, or should be public knowledge on our phones... and they much more easily give up information... but if we all lived our lives, in such a boring way, that no one cares what we are doing... it's not any worse than the super spy telescope...

 

[seangee]

 

[FranciscoB]

Speaking of Big Brother, do you guys know the Rare Earth song Hey Big Brother?
I love Rare Earth and saw them live in the 80’s.

 

[GaryE]

Great times we live in. I would have to carry a burner phone to drive across a local border to get fish if they were shipped to me.

 

[Naughts]

Carry one with you turned on at all times so they know where you are and with whom you are spending time.

And more importantly what we are spending our money on. No matter how boring our lives are, the chance to manipulate where our money goes is exceedingly interesting. It's not (primarily) the Governments; it's the companies and corporations that are paying the most attention.

 

[GaryE]

It's great stuff. A Canadian satirical writer made a joke about an island here being 12 minutes behind the mainland. A joke. It's now the official word from two major AI sources who include that time zone info when you search.
But they are likely to be much better at spotting dissent and the organization of democratic protests, etc. Whatever they get, they can sell. That's a lot more dangerous than traditional political police work.

In some major, important countries, the lines between companies and corporations and governments are increasingly blurred. Data is a big market for many purposes, depending on who wants to buy it.

I think we should post and repost about rare fishes we would like to have available, to convince the algorithm to convince the importers to order them in!

 

[Back in the fold]

Very interesting . I do not have a smart phone . I have an old flip phone which is rarely turned on and I never take it outside the house .

 

[GaryE]

Very interesting . I do not have a smart phone . I have an old flip phone which is rarely turned on and I never take it outside the house .

That can work for us old guys, if we so choose. For younger people in the work force, smart phones can be essential. You need them to job hunt, for one thing, especially if you scramble for contracts. Increasingly, unless you drop out of the mainstream economy, your smart phone is a must have.
If you're lucky, the job provides a phone with the requisite spyware for the boss, but most people need to pay for their own. A lot depends on what work you do, or are looking for, but they've become a basic tool.
I don't like mine, but I need it for a host of medical functions, to simplify travel and to even run my aquarium lights. It's hard to opt out of the surveillance economy.

My adult daughters and their friends schedule phone calls. If they get an unsolicited ring, they don't answer unless they know the name, and then they assume someone died. It's a texting world now, and our voices are going the way of cursive.

 

[Magnum Man]

I saw on the news this morning, that a teacher somewhere, is teaching school kids to type...
...on paper...
...and they seem to like it???

 

[JuiceBox52]

I saw on the news this morning, that a teacher somewhere, is teaching school kids to type...
...on paper...
...and they seem to like it???

This made me laugh

 

[sharkweek178]

 

[Oldspartan]

My employer provided a Smart Phone. It never left the workplace except when it was my turn to be on call. I never answered emails after the time slot of my life the employer rented from me.

Now, I carry a smart phone but very few people have the number. Linda has a flip phone but rarely uses it. We still have a landline, and it is our main communication device still.

I am not in favor of the intrusion these "smart" devices can be used to threaten my time and privacy.

 

[gwand]

I understand the concerns about an iPhone. But I use it for everything: music, news, purchases (aka Amazon), research, chat GPT, sports, audiobooks, streaming movies, continuing education etc. I spend one hour each day listening to lectures from the Teaching Company on the iPhone. I haven’t missed a day since I started in 2022. Mostly music courses. I never played a video game. My social media is the TFF and other fish forums on FB.