Three cheers for the surveillance society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Three cheers for the surveillance society - Essay Example According to Brin, surveillance society is characterized by immense and irreversible developments in technology that increasingly enables sophisticated surveillance. Brin sees the movement toward the surveillance society as an inevitable process driven by the constant advancement of technology. Hence, the image of technological development as an inexorably rising tide. The mainstay of Brin's argument on surveillance society is the technological environment that makes the emergence of a surveillance society not only a concrete possibility but also a reality in the making. Most importantly, there is nothing inevitable with human societies. Although, the technological developments and the consequent emergence of surveillance society at present may seen as an irreversible phenomenon, there is no guarantee that alternate forms of society cannot emerge. Both culture and politics have tremendous influence in bringing about such profound changes, a fact that Brin has not reflected upon. The problem is that Brin, in his rush to reach the conclusion of "surveillance society", has been overwhelmed by the recent developments in technology that trapped him in a kind of crass technological determinism whereas he identifies technological development as the moving force of human history.