Devolution of Human Communication Through Technology: An Analysis of the Society in 'Feed' Amy L Aris College

M. T. Anderson’s Feed offers poignant criticism on the technology and its apparent benefits. In a futuristic dystopia, seventy percent of humanity are embedded with the “feed”—a high-tech device which essentially acts as phone and a computer. Through this device people can receive word suggestion, read a dictionary, and contact one another via m-chat (mental chat). While this technology appears extremely helpful, the main character Titus and his friends use the feed as a crutch as they have lost the ability to speak articulately. The word-suggestion aspect of the feed and high-tech society has taken a severe toll on their verbal capabilities as seen by the excessive use of slang-terms and thinking in email format. This change in traditional communication has a severe effect on traditional human interaction as most people no longer speak to one another but rather choose to communicate via their feeds even when standing next to one another. These ramifications due to the technology meant to improve and ease life showcase how as technology evolves, the more humans devolve and lose the ability to communicate and thus lose an important aspect of human life.

A consequence of the humans of Feed having the technology since birth is...