To be honest, I don't watch talk shows or follow any news programs, so I
am not familiar with actual people who may bring up societal problems as
gadflies might. Socrates was a gadfly because he was able to criticize the
status quo of his society while getting others to realize the problem(s) as
well. And so I guess him influencing how people viewed the government, lead to
his death. Our society is substantially larger than that of ancient
Athens. Maybe this is too literal, but I think its fair to say that Socrates
had a smaller crowd to influence than someone might in present day America.
Because of that, I don't think there is one person who can be a modern gadfly.
Instead I think that groups and organizations are the gadflies that expose
problems to people and promote change. The only gadfly group that I can think
of right now would be Anonymous. I don’t really know much about them except
that they are an anonymous group of hackers who dislike certain government and
corporate regulations. Whether or not they are a legitimate group, they do have
a presence on the Internet. The thing is is that virtually anyone can join, so
really whatever criticisms they have or any changes they want to bring about is
open to anyone in society.
I hadn't thought about it that way. I guess that in a modern setting gadflies cannot really exist in the way that they did before. Thought I'd have to guess that there would probably be a few of them out there in their own circles that already exist.
ReplyDeleteI've never before heard of Anonymous but, learning more, I agree with your considering this group gadflies. It seems like these hackers truly only uncover flaws in the truths of others rather than developing criticisms..?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that in today's society, people are a lot different from those in Athens. I feel like we know more and are experienced to criticism more frequently. I think those groups like the one you mentioned are diffidently growing in presence and many more like them are forming. In today's society where we have the internet it's a lot easier for people to voice their opinions. Like you said everything is pretty open so I think that these types of groups will daintily continue to grow.
ReplyDeleteI really like your take on this assignment. The modern technology advances we have make it easier for people to ask hard-hitting questions without backlash (or death like Socrates).
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