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by imglorp 1712 days ago
It turns out they were both approximately right about dystopia.
2 comments

They both missed (but the film Brazil caught) that the dystopia will be run by a bureaucracy of bumbling idiots.
I think that's another dimension of the control. It'd be controversial to make a law saying "we're restricting how you repair your air condition", but if you instead said, "for your safety, you need to have a signed and stamped form B-6 to repair your air condition" you can achieve the same effect by creating layers of bumbling bureaucracy. Everybody is hostage to insane rules that obfuscate your control.
Anytime I am forced to navigate a maze of bureaucracy and/or paperwork, my mind goes to this movie. It seems more relevant with every passing day.
What humans need is an A.I. assistance specifically designed to convert bureaucracy into human speak as well as take human speak and implement/talk-to the bureaucratic process to get things done.

i.e. if you need to do some menial paperwork (i.e. file with city that you are changing plumping, the a.i. handles it for you).

Basically an interface that is human friendly and can keep governments informed/processed/licensed as needed.

Try some of Kafka's work.
We are in a world of Orwell's surveillance devices, lovingly toted by the proles as Huxley suggested.
It seems a lot of literary dystopias have merged and manifested into our current reality. At this point I'm just waiting for someone harpoon at my car as I approach an onramp.
I look forward to applying for citizenship in Mr Lee's Greater Hong Kong
Despite all the insightful intellectual back and forth on this thread, this is my favorite comment.
Right over my head. Is this just a snarky Moby Dick joke?
It’s a reference to “Snow Crash” by Neil Stephenson
My pleasure