1984 is George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel.
Winston Smith is a low-ranking member of the ruling Party in London in the nation of Oceania.
Everywhere Winston goes the Party watches him. Everywhere he looks he sees the face of the Party’s leader.
A figure known only as Big Brother.
The Party controls everything in Oceania even the people’s language.
Currently the Party is forcing the implementation of an invented language called Newspeak.
Even thinking rebellious thoughts is illegal.
Such thoughtcrime is classed as the worst of all crimes.
Orwell wrote 1984 in 1949.
Many saw it as a warning of what we could turn into.
There’s plenty of concepts that are turning up and some have crept in without us realising:
Author, Michael Crichton says:
“I actually think that 1984 came to pass. Orwell’s writing about a totalitarian state, and that part isn’t the case. But the notion that you might live in a society that rather rigorously limits your available behavior, and that watches you to make sure that you do, you know I think we are increasingly seeing, but what’s interesting is that it’s not big brother, we’re doing it to ourselves.”
I see my professionals suffer from this all the time.
They pull back from being their true selves and delivering maximum value to their clients as they are scared of what their competition or contemporaries will think.
It’s professional thoughtcrime policed by their own fears.
Your ideas and knowledge can add massive value to others when given in the right context.
Set them free.
