The protagonist of the novel Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag, is initially tasked with destroying books which are banned by the government of the ignorant society he is living in. Only through interacting with other characters that are outliers due to their open mindsets does he get the idea to read some of the books and discover that they have value. Oblivious to free thought and lulled in by mass media, the books make him discover that he is really unhappy with his life. As his thinking becomes increasingly independent, the censorship of his government turns against him, forcing him to flee into the woods where he meets other literates and watches as the society he used to live in is wiped out by nuclear strikes.
While the book is often used to criticize government censorship, its author, Ray Bradbury, stated that the main message is the censorship that comes from the people themselves. They choose to consume mass media designed to be widely palatable while special interest groups try to combat any thoughts that threaten their respective world view. In a sense, it is a criticism of cultural homogenization and “cancel culture” written in 1953. Saying that the book’s main themes are still relevant is almost an understatement. The only thing that didn’t age well is its focus on books as the only form of niche media. While you can’t blame Ray Bradbury for not predicting the internet in 1953, it seems like he wasn’t able to imagine that other forms of media could hold as much value in provoking free thought as books. Nevertheless, the self-censorship and ignorance in society he equates to a conveniently sharp border between books and other media very much exists, albeit not being definable by form of medium alone.
Why am I writing about this now? Well, recently I read a book called “Project Hail Mary”. I’m not going to spoil it here, because you might want to read it yourself. It's a really fun book if you are a science nerd and willing to suspend your disbelief a lot. But, me being me, I thought the book was “too much fun”. Somewhere in my brain it triggered a warning indicator saying “this might be addictive”. It’s the same kind of feeling I get when I taste something that has unreasonable amounts of sugar or when I play a video game that uses dark patterns to increase dopamine response. I told a friend about it who wasn’t fond of the idea. He told me that people have been telling stories since the invention of language and that we’d know by now if there were adverse effects. He brought up a different theory, namely that the book made me feel things I don’t encounter in my life and that it made me discover how much I miss those feelings. That I was too lulled in by my job, my daily activities and the media I consume and the book made me discover an unhappiness that I had all along. Do you see why that made me think of Fahrenheit 451?
But now that I have these two books on my imaginary table, I fully disagree with my friend’s theory. Where Fahrenheit 451 highlights problems in society that remain relevant over seven decades later, Project Hail Mary is overly optimistic and bends reality to accommodate a truly fantastical plot. A lot of what makes Fahrenheit 451 great is what happens when you think about it. Project Hail Mary is a book you shouldn’t think too much about or you might get disappointed, a bit like you shouldn’t think too much about the plot in an action movie. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still very fun, but it's just a completely different category of book. Not worse, not better, just excellent in an orthogonal direction. Still, I think Project Hail Mary wouldn’t be one of the books that Guy Montag would have to burn.
Thought provoking media are a big thing in my life. If you read my blog, there’s nothing I despise more than prohibition of thoughts. I like to think about everything, no matter how outrageous it might seem to some people. In the Fahrenheit 451 universe I’d have been banned to live in the forest a long time ago. For this reason I also know that there is something missing in my life. I never claimed to be fully happy, neither do I think this is possible or even a sensible target to chase. I don’t need to read a book to find that out.
No, I think I stand by my initial assessment. Stories can be addictive. Some years ago I listened to a psychology podcast, where the host would interview many renowned scientists in psychology and adjacent fields. I remember an episode where he was interviewing a woman who was involved with treating patients suffering from addiction. She told a story of when she used to read romance novels, first only for fun but later for escapism. She described how her novel reading behavior became increasingly problematic as she started to read them at work and got angry when people disturbed her. At some point she realized how it made her neglect her duties, caused her to be distressed more than it did good for her and generally had a negative impact on her life overall, exactly in the way she helps her patients see their addiction. So even though this is anecdotal evidence, I hope you’ll agree that people can get addicted to everything.
But, by all means, don’t let that scare you from reading Project Hail Mary. Addiction isn’t a boogeyman to run away from, it’s a factor to control for. Eating sugary treats is fine in moderation. Life just wouldn’t be the same without them. Also, the addictive potential of reading books is probably less like that of sugar and more like that of asparagus. Not everyone likes it but most people don’t mind when it comes drowsed in hollandaise. And most people who don’t like it probably didn’t have it in a well made form. Just white asparagus with potatoes and a good homemade hollandaise is all it takes. Did you know that making hollandaise is surprisingly easy? Damn, I love asparagus. But I digress.
What’s probably more interesting is that line that Fahrenheit 451 draws between books and other media is fuzzy in both directions. Not only can a well made YouTube video be as thought provoking as a good book, but a book can be as mindless as a soap opera. But unless society literally bans you to live in the forest if you’re a free thinker, you can enjoy your independent thoughts while still enjoying the occasional mindless entertainment. You just have to be careful not to forget about the former by getting addicted to the latter. I don’t know if Ray Bradbury would agree with that, but I don’t care. It’s just my free, independent opinion.
