Ignorance ain’t strength: what 1984 tells us about fake news – and how to resist it

Of all the prescient insights to be found in Orwell’s classic novel, perhaps one of the most chilling is the advent of the post-truth era. Can 1984 help us better navigate our own dystopia?

The story famously opens as the clocks strike 13 – conveying an immediate sense of discomfort, or of abnormality. As if time itself has been distorted.

But it isn’t just the clocks. Through the eyes of the protagonist, Winston Smith, and through the technology with which he interacts, 1984 shows us a world built on governmental control – not just over people’s actions, but over their thoughts.

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