We were warned about Orwell. But we’re living in Huxley
ok, this is a piece I’ve been meaning to write for 5+ years. About darn time. And the time is right. Because… I’m sick of the word, “Orwellian”. We’re nowhere close to being in an Orwellian world.
With that, here goes…
Orwell feared a future where books would be banned, truth would be erased, and the state would crush dissent. Huxley feared something far more pernicious and encompassing: a world where no one wanted to read, because they were too busy chasing dopamine.
Where do you think we stand?
Orwellian: Information is withheld. Truth is controlled. Fear is weaponized.
Huxelian: Information is abundant. Truth is drowned. Pleasure is weaponized.
How about now?
We’re in the thick and thin of Huxley’s universe.
And most of us don’t know it. We will chase the next news cycle, “trend-jack” the next meme and life will go on… because nuance is dead, and so are passionate logical debates and thinking. Hot takes ftw, as the Gen-Zs, say.
soma: a prompt away, stronger, more potent
Huxley feared that a society wouldn’t need a dictator, because it would be too entertained to care about freedom. He was right. We have normalised political dictatorship. And creating a polarised faction was the first step in realising that dream.
In Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’, soma is a drug used by the state to suppress dissent. It’s a hallucinogen to escape from reality and only feel happiness.
Sounds scarily familiar?
AI is the new soma, albeit more potent, a bit different. But it gets the job done.
There was a time when we had to think before we spoke. Now autocomplete does it for us.
We don’t remember. We Google.
We don’t argue. We repost.
We don’t seek truth. We scan headlines, then outrage.
We don’t write as much. We prompt.
The biggest trick AI ever pulled is to replace friction. Friction gave us moment to pause, reminisce, think. Search the inner conners of our brain to find meaning, unlock patterns and force new ideas. That’s… well… done with. Now, we want to ‘ship’ a piece, a though, an idea. Fast.
Muzzle Velocity: flood and kill the signal
There’s a term from the Trump camp called, “muzzle velocity.” It’s the one thought-provoking piece they’ve managed to weaponise and use to full effect.
The idea is simple: flood the media with so much chaos, so many stories, so much outrage, that no one knows what to focus on. Today’s scandal is tomorrow’s meme.
You don’t need to silence the truth. You just need to outrun it. And with polarising news channels, you can waltz your way to the ‘truth’ that you think matters. It’s what Trump has mastered — and because his message is so simple, it finds resonance.
“They tax us, we double tax them” — simple. clear.
Silicon Valley has productized this notion of simple and clear. And that’s precisely what tech algorithms now weaponize at scale.
You’ve felt it. Something breaks, something burns, someone lies — and just as it begins to matter, something shinier appears. Rinse, repeat. The problem isn’t that we don’t know. It’s that we can’t care. Not long enough. Not loud enough.
This is Huxley’s world. Overstimulation is the new censorship.
Voluntary Dystopia
This isn’t authoritarianism in the classical sense, because it has takers and backers in equal measure. The majority across the world have voted for fundamentalism, closing borders and looking inwards.
The modern dystopia isn’t enforced. It’s embraced, willingly and passionately. The father of Public Relations and the original propagandist (Ed Bernays) would’ve been stunned by the mass submission of people, were he alive. (i’m sure he’d be proud, in that twisted way of his) How did so many kowtow to mediocrity so easily?
Voluntary dystopia is the well find ourselves in, and as we drown, we’re a herd that lumbers on because algorithms own us. So, here’s a template to stand out for your own sanity:
- Reclaiming ‘thought’. Spend time thinking and writing.
- Take time to pause, reflect, and journal aimlessly — there will always be method in madness.
- Practice boredom, and seek out friction.
- Read longform — Feynman technique what you read with friends, provoke conversations in your friends’ whatsapp groups
- Your time is valuable, choose to spend it wisely
At the risk of making this post any longer, i shall end this rant, because… well… how many of us read anyway 😉
