https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8 1984 en-us 2022-05-21 01:08:15 UTC 2022-05-24 04:14:17 UTC hello@padlet.com nventura2022 https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2193620725 George Orwell was born in 1903 in India’s most precious imperial possession, India. His family moved to England in 1911 where he would experience both World Wars. Being born into the upper-middle-class of Britain’s strict class-oriented society, Orwell was in a position where he observed the unjust difference between the prestige the upper-class enjoyed and the struggles his compatriots in lower classes faced. Consequently, Orwell identified with a variety of political ideologies during his life including anarchism and socialism. His novel 1984, completed in 1949 just one year before his death, warns of how the patterns of people’s behavior and society at local and global levels predestines totalitarianism, endless war, and rigid social classes.]]> 2022-05-21 01:16:50 UTC https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2193620725 nventura2022 https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2193623156 1984 is Orwell’s prediction of what the World would become in 1984, which was thirty-five years into the future. After the Allies won World War II, the spoils of war were divided between the Soviet Union and United States. Understanding that people respond predictably to power vacuums, he predicts a world in which these two powers evolve alongside an asian power become the only three nations on Earth: the U.S. becomes Oceania, the Soviet Union becomes Eurasia, and East Asia arises from China, India, and other countries in the region being unified. The novel takes place in Airstrip One, which was formerly London and is now a part of Oceania. Furthermore, the people of all nations are under totalitarian control and are indoctrinated into revering their respective leaders. However, the main character Winston manages to see through the propaganda of Oceania because he was just old enough when Oceania was created to have experienced a sense of freedom that he subconsciously holds on to until adulthood.]]> 2022-05-21 01:22:22 UTC https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2193623156 nventura2022 https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2193625510 “Dulce et Decorum Est” details the atrocities that a group of soldiers face during World War I. Written by a British Solider Wilfred Owen after enduring loss and pain for the purpose of British Victory, he declares, “My friend, you would not tell with such high zest to children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori”, or it is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country. Owen’s transformation shows that a person’s experience is more responsible for their beliefs than their nature because he initially went to war excited for glory having been told the honor of fighting for a person’s country. Then, after seeing the brutality of war, he decided that the cost of one life outweighs the glory of a nation. Owen’s initial stance on war is identical to that of the citizens of Oceania as Oceania is at endless war with either Eurasia or Eastasia and its people look forward to war spectacles such as the execution of enemy soldiers. ]]> 2022-05-21 01:27:49 UTC https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2193625510 nventura2022 https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2193626351 Through examples, this profound Ted Talk by Behavioral economist Dan Ariely shows that when it comes to decision making, people have little to no set preferences based upon their nature or nurture. Instead, it is the inferior choices that give certain superior choices contrast. The superior choice with the most contrast is chosen, regardless of if this choice is rational to the individual. Furthermore, an abundance of choice, even if it’s good choice, overwhelms the decision maker into not making a decision at all. In 1984, the idea of freedom from choice is exploited with the Party’s slogan “Freedom is Slavery”.]]> 2022-05-21 01:29:48 UTC https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2193626351 nventura2022 https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2193628599 Phillip Zimbardo, a psychologist and professor at Stanford, ran The Stanford Prison Experiment in which twenty-three male volunteers were randomly assigned roles as either guards or prisoners in a simulated prison. All were students and described as good people. However, after just days, the guards began “denying the prisoners food, water and sleep, shooting them with fire-extinguisher spray, throwing their blankets into dirt”. Their sadistic behavior progressed when days later  “[they put] bags over the prisoners’ heads, chained their legs and marched them around”. The results are striking; within a week, young adults deeply integrated into society as shown by being in one of the United States’ top universities began acting wickedly. The change in the guards decision making was caused by the removal of social norms in a relationship they were empowered in. This is similar to how O’Brian tortures Winston and despite Winston’s effort to resist, he ultimately succumbs to the propaganda of the Inner Party.]]> 2022-05-21 01:34:52 UTC https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2193628599 nventura2022 https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2193632337 2022-05-21 01:43:05 UTC https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2193632337 nventura2022 https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2193654112 Robin McKie explains a study done on identical triplets born in 1961. They were separated at birth and each was adopted by a family of a different socio-economic background that provided different childhood experiences. Despite having the same DNA, they ended up having different personalities and choosing different paths as adults. McKie claims, “The varied fates of the triplets suggest other important, non-genetic forces must also have been involved in determining how their lives unraveled”. The effect of one’s childhood experiences on their life path is explored in 1984 with Winston’s recollection of his mother the guilt he feels surrounding her death.]]> 2022-05-21 02:29:56 UTC https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2193654112 nventura2022 https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2193669894 This fresco by Italian painter Ludovico Carracci illustrates the founding myth of Rome: Romulus and Remus. Romulus and Remus were twins abandoned at birth who were left to die floating down the Tiber River by their grandfather. However, they were rescued by a she-wolf who fed them until they were found by humans. The twins would later go on to found Rome before Romulus killed Remus and named the city after himself. The fact that the Romans chose this myth to be their founding myth reveals they understood the importance of nurture in the development of a person’s character. Because they prided themselves in being strong and skilled at war, they made their founders survive abandonment by their family as babies, be cared for by a wolf, and kill each other over pride. Similarly, Oceania invented the all-knowing, all-powerful, and war-hero founder-myth of Big Brother.]]> 2022-05-21 03:07:23 UTC https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2193669894 nventura2022 https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2196979736 2022-05-24 04:14:17 UTC https://padlet.com/nventura2022/qc4gfmy7bdkw7ed8/wish/2196979736