1984 Triggers episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 24, 2022 · 19 MIN

1984 Triggers

from Plausibly Live - The Dave Bowman Show · host Dave Bowman

The University of  Northampton in England, has informed the world that it has decided that the George Orwell book, 1984, a dystopian novel of tyrannical dictatorship, censorship and thought control, needs a "Trigger Warning" because, as the school says, "students may find some "explicit material offensive and upsetting." The irony of that  move seems to have escaped the faculty of the University of Northampton (go Saints!). Meanwhile, more and more of the book seems to be predictive in nature rather than reflective. There is a reason for that. Orwell was not a great visionary genius looking forward into the possibilities of human behavior. He was actually looking back, noticing the pattern of action and thought, and setting it in a future with more  modern technology and concepts. Which is why the University putting a Trigger Warning is literally the most 1984 thing that they  could have done.

The University of  Northampton in England, has informed the world that it has decided that the George Orwell book, 1984, a dystopian novel of tyrannical dictatorship, censorship and thought control, needs a "Trigger Warning" because, as the school says, "students may find some "explicit material offensive and upsetting." The irony of that  move seems to have escaped the faculty of the University of Northampton (go Saints!). Meanwhile, more and more of the book seems to be predictive in nature rather than reflective. There is a reason for that. Orwell was not a great visionary genius looking forward into the possibilities of human behavior. He was actually looking back, noticing the pattern of action and thought, and setting it in a future with more  modern technology and concepts. Which is why the University putting a Trigger Warning is literally the most 1984 thing that they  could have done.

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1984 Triggers

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This episode was published on January 24, 2022.

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The University of  Northampton in England, has informed the world that it has decided that the George Orwell book, 1984, a dystopian novel of tyrannical dictatorship, censorship and thought control, needs a "Trigger Warning" because, as the school...

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