Fahrenheit 451- A reflection about Facebook and WhatsApp before they even existed

Note: There are no spoilers about the book here, so, no worries.

I wasn't so sure I would enjoy reading Fahrenheit 451 at first. The premise is sort of famous: books are being institutionally burnt; and although this is a clever premise for a dystopian future, it was not enough to catch my attention for many, many years. However, I want you to know today that this is not the theme, the topic, or the message of the book. Not at all.

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is a middle ground between Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World: government controls everything, but this is achieved through entertainment rather than force. And this is the way in which this book is relevant today. So relevant. Too relevant.

In this dystopian future, suicide rates have gone up. As well as divorce rates. Abortion rates. Television sales rates. Mmmh... sounds familiar?

Instead of having an actual meeting with their family members, people see their relatives only on big screens, where they only speak of famous shows, happy events, and how they are fashionable and happy by being free from binding worries or responsibilities... Mmmhh...wait a minute...

Bottom line is... I can't see my Facebook app in quite the same way as before...nor my WhatsApp...

And I haven't even described the fundamental message of the book. My suggestion is that you actually go and read it. There's more; much more. It's a great book.