Feed by MT Anderson

I had a hard time getting into this book, and now that I’m done, I’m still not sure what I think of it.  I am still thinking about it, and I will have questions from the book circling my brain for some time to come.

It was hard for me to relate to Titus.  He grew up with the Feed–a constant stream of information, entertainment and marketing.  As a result, he’s not used to thinking for himself.  He just follows the Feed and his friends to the next happening.  Even his language, filled with slang and nearly meaningless expressions, is hard to follow.  Once he meets Violet–on the moon where all their feeds get hacked–he starts to question the way things are, but can he change?

I liked Violet very much.  She constantly questions the way the world is.  She takes Titus on a shopping spree just to confuse the Feed.  They look and touch and try on product after product with no purchases.  She pulls up random facts that she got from reading actual books.  She observes–and criticizes Titus’s friends, but is reluctant to join in their games.

Voilet grew up surrounded by printed words and got her Feed much later, after her brain had started working for itself.  Now the incompatability of the Feed with her nervous system is causing her to break down.   Her physical and mental breakdown is very much what is wrong with society, if anyone will disconnect from the Feed long enough to listen.

Some of the questions raised by MT Anderson are eerily on target for today.  How many of us are aware of just how much our online presence is being tracked, sorted and used by marketers wanting to sell us more things we didn’t know we wanted?  How much are we willing to consume without worrying about the social and environmental costs?  How much longer before the idea of governments running school is a quaint idea and corporations take over education?  How many of us are willing to think for ourselves long enough to search for the answers?

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