The death of evolution

I recently read Fahrenheit 451, the classic novel of a dystopian future America. Most people think the book is about widespread censorship by a tyrannical government, but that's not exactly true. In the book, the American people have, on their own, rejected books and all other intellectual pursuits. This is encouraged by the government once it becomes obvious that they can use it to repress and control people, but the root cause is the public's growing obsession with television.

Bradbury's point, in more detail here, is that the real culprit, the real devastator of American society is television. Given that this book was written over 50 years ago, I would imagine that a modern take on the story would point the finger at other forms of media, in addition to television, but for now suffice it to say that the story is about the damaging effects of television addiction.

If you've not read it recently, Bradbury describes how the government uses this massive censorship to, among other things, keep the population under control and mentally dormant. Specifically, we are told by Fire Captain Beatty, that the most popular shows on television engage the audience by requiring so little brainpower to comprehend that even the tiniest amount of consciousness spent watching them can allow the audience to feel intelligent and accomplished.

For example, Beatty describes one of the most popular television shows as being a game show in which people are asked if they know the lyrics to various popular songs. Of course, most people do, so they are allowed to feel as though they have accomplished something worthwhile, even though song lyrics surely number among the least valuable things a person can commit to memory. In that way, television strokes the ego and flatters the viewer for what amounts to essentially nothing.

Guess what new game show I just heard about? From Wiki:

Combining karaoke singing with a spelling bee-style competition, this show will have contestants trying to remember the lyrics to popular songs. In each episode, six lucky contestants will be selected from the audience to play a series of games that test their knowledge of song lyrics.

This isn't just similar to Bradbury's dire warning. It's not merely close. It's exactly the same. And if that's not bad enough, a rival network has already ripped it off with another show that appears to be identical.

Also, I have been made aware of the existence of a nationally-televised Bingo game show.

I think that part of the reason that Bradbury's work has been misinterpreted is due to the idea that it's much easier to believe in a malevolent government body deciding what's best for us all. Perhaps it seems implausible that Americans would jointly decide that they don't need books when they have Tivos and network television and other shiny things and diversions. In a nation where this soul-murdering garbage is among the highest-rated of these diversions, a nation where the endless fact-free news cycle is so busy covering the DUI arrests of various worthless dregs of society, I don't have a hard time believing in Bradbury's vision of the future.

Pathetic.