Nothing was charged on any

credit cards. But my peace of mind had dissolved and my paper went unwritten.  So that’s my excuse,

along with waiting too long to finish it. That’s when I decided sometimes I’d rather not have to think for

 myself. I’m kidding of course, but maybe, Dystopia is fun sometimes.

This got me to thinking about our hero Mae in Dave Egger’s book “The Circle.” Why had she

decided to suppress her emotions so many times in this novel, going against her own conscience

and what she felt was comfortable? The answer lies in the need for comfort and security. It also

shows how easily somebody can be controlled when you lavish all kinds of gifts upon them. Mae

 is not that much different from you or I. She wants to provide for herself. She wants her sick father to

get the proper care he needs. When it’s realized that her parents are able to be put on her medical plan,

the pressure is compounded as well. Mae feels a need to prove herself. She starts going to more

meetings, accepting copious invitations to parties and luncheons that she no longer has time for. Her life

becomes all about the Circle.

                When Mae decides to go on a Kayak ride, she is given a guilt trip. Why would she want to go

alone? Why not post it onto the online forum and see if other employees from the Circle would want to

go? But anybody knows that when you’re making plans it becomes so much more complicated with each

extra person invited. Mae soon begins to realize that she doesn’t have the luxury of alone time

 anymore. The spontaneity of the past is gone. She must do whatever she can to keep this job.

                  Nicholas Carr, when writing his book the Shallows, makes some interesting observations about

Google and it’s godlike omniscience in the lives of it’s employees. On page 151 he mentions how

“Google recruits volunteers for eye tracking and other psychological studies at their in-house usability

lab.” And that “Google continually introduces tiny permutations in the way it’s sites look and operate,

shows different permutations to different sets of users, and then compares how the variations influence

the users’ behavior- how long they stay on a page, the way they move their cursor about the screen,

what they click on, what they don’t click on, where they go next.”  All of this research greatly contributes

 to Google’s bottom line. And Google is no different than many other businesses out there.

                I once worked for an App development company and one of the Startups we were working with

wanted to be able to take user information based on all past purchasing and push coupons and

advertisements towards them. This is something we are seeing more and more of. I’m afraid that even

though transparency is convenient, people are losing something sacred at the same time.  On page 202

in the Circle, Francis records a sexual interaction with Mae. Even though she is startled by this, she has

 become so used to these intrusions of technology that she no longer seems to be capable of outrage. Is

this what having cameras on our phones is setting us up for?  

                “I won’t advertise it or anything,” Francis assures her. And there’s really nothing she can do. She

is so caught up with becoming transparent that she figures she just has to let it go. The other end of the

coin is that there is probably so much stuff out there, eventually, it doesn’t matter if a video of you

having sex is out there because people will probably ignore it.

                What Mae doesn’t seem to realize in this story is that for every newfound freedom and

convenience that she accepts, she seems to give up more and more of her freedoms.  It makes me think

of the 40^th law in Brian Greene’s book “The 48 laws of power” where he states “What is offered for free

is dangerous- it usually involves either a tick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for.

 By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full

price- there is no cutting corners with excellence. “  Although, I do realize she is not trying to get by as a

freeloader, I recognize how easy it is to sometimes takes the shortcut. But Mae is merely doing what a

lot of us do.  Because it’s fun to surrender and be part of the pack.   People in general crave a sense of

belonging. But is the workplace the proper place to find this sense of belonging?  Are we designed to

choose our social schemes around people who happen to be found in our workplace?

                Mae’s friend Annie, who initially is ther person who got her the position at this place, is a

mentor of sorts. She constantly calms Mae down and urges her to fall into line. When

misunderstandings happen, like Mae unknowingly turning down an invitation for a Portugese themed

party, Annie assures her it’s not that big of a deal, that these things happen to everybody at the Circle.

Everybody seems to revere Annie. It’s a lot for poor Mae to live up to. So she gives it her best. She works

extremely hard to prove that she is worthy of the gifts bestowed upon her.  She soon is working

overtime to become the dynamo of social media that everybody at the company is encouraging her to

be. And she seems to be having fun. Because Dystopia can be fun.

Even in Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, where employees take a mellowing drug called Soma, people are

generally content. It’s all some people care about. The danger is that eventually does society begin

punishing those who don’t fall into line?