"Science, in the old sense, has almost ceased to exist. In Newspeak there is no word for ‘Science’. The empirical method of thought, on which all the scientific achievements of the past were founded, is opposed to the most fundamental principles of Ingsoc. And even technological progress only happens when its products can in some way be used for the diminution of human liberty."I found this particular quote to be totally sad. The idea that science no longer exists and no exploration occurs in Oceania is very depressing. Curiosity and knowledge are essentially weapons of mass destruction in Oceania, and could harm the rhetoric of the Party. So to minimize the issues of keeping those curious and knowledgeable from impacting and informing those who were less so, the Party promotes the idea as ignorance as strength.
Achievements and furthering of the mind in any sense would go against the public view that people were not individual, that everyone was a cog in a perfect machine. In a way, any sort of innovation promoted that there is something to be fixed. People who are 'scientist' in that sense that we think are probably cycled through often. Though they may want them for the idea of how to further diminish liberty and technological advances that may possibly assist in that, the Party likely gets quickly scared of people able to have ideas beyond what they have provided and get concerned with how that could be used against them.
This quote also makes me wonder just what technological advances have been made. When the Party began how much access had they had to people? I wonder how recent a development telescreens were and how long hey had actually worked. It seems possible that originally most telescreens didn't have access to video and sound, but the rhetoric was spread that they did, so people became afraid. It wouldn't be unlike fake security cameras, as just the act of feeling watched can cause people to alter behaviors.
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