Is the society in the book better off than ours?

[Success Azuka]

The society in the book is far perfect than ours. Perfect is not too good so I think I prefer our society.

[Savina Visintin]

Absolutely not, it is not worth the price. The society described in the book is disturbing because people's lives are too regulated. I could never live in such a society, and I sincerely hope we will never see anything like this happen in our lives.

[FunkyFlowerLady]

Hmmm, a world where rules are blatant and punishments as well, it sounds like a system that should work theoretically but for robots. And robots they were, but unfortunately not the real ones. For someone who is a human, but forced to live like a bot, this is ludicrous. I don't believe the dystopian society depicted in the novel is more advanced than our own. The ability to choose has been given to humanity, yet in this society, people are supposed to act and behave like robots and have no free will. If they do transgress, the penalties are severe. I wouldn't want to live in a world like this. Without the freedom to think for myself, I would not be able to function, and the gender-neutral colors make the world sound dull; no, it is not better.

[Nemanja Jankovic]

I think that the society as described is no better than today's because it drastically limits any form of freedom. However, reading the book, I could not shake the impression that the society of the future will be quite similar to the one in the book.

[Abril Zacca]

I don't think the society in the book is better off than ours. Sure, some issues we face now are solved by the AI, but it was clear that many characters weren't happy with their lives and only followed the rules out of fear of what might happen to them, that doesn't seem like a happy society.

[Aisha Yakub]

The world that is depicted is not a better one! Well, it does, as you indicated, address some contemporary problems. Yet it is not worthwhile. A world where using drugs as an escape and a system that can't even accurately read emotions is in charge of interpreting your intents and determining your fate is unacceptable.

[Atieno Magero]

I don't think that the society portrayed in Terms of Service is better than the one we're currently living in. Some issues have been solved but others have become worse. Some of the issues the citizens struggle with identity crisis, drug use, and mental illness. Plus, no is truly free. They're all slaves to the system.

[Chinazo Anozie]

In the futuristic society portrayed in the book, they seem to have managed to control some of the issues we face now in our societies such as the risk of overpopulation, food security... but was it worth the price they paid?

I don't think their society is better than ours. Yes, the crime rate went down and having a fridge that provides you with healthy foods and a housebot that cleans sounds nice, but the cost was definitely too high. Freedom of expression is an intangible and very important human right that is necessary. And at the end of the day, with dystopian cultures such as this, it's always inevitable that humans will rebel.

[Medina Fedrick]

I don't think it was worth the price, because the price is not only paid at that moment, but with every passing day. The price is paid even into the second book, The Prophecy of Heron, so I don't think it was worth it. I can't imagine having robots prepare my food, it'll surely be bland to my taste.

[Sarah Sonbol]

In my opinion, the portrayed society in the book is horrible. People no longer communicate normally and even friends meet each other in a VR world. Controlling your food, societal status and where you live is extremely terrifying.

[Not available anymore]

The Answer to your question is that is not worth it at all, yes they had security but they paid dearly with their freedom, freedom is a human right too.

[Jerry Spencer]

I won't say so. The society tried to detach itself from emotional attachments and emotions are what makes us human. Also, humans are producers of artificial intelligence. They should not be a god to us.

[Meghan Soderholm]

I do not think the society portrayed in the book is better than ours due to the fact that everything is technology based therefore prone to errors. Even if there were solutions to the errors, there is no guarantee that they will be prevented. A glitch in the system can mean life or death for someone. Someone else tells us, what we can eat, where we can go, and what we can do taking away our free will which is the lesson I learned while reading the book.

[Friederic Schröder]

When it comes to technological advancement, they are. I still see greed and lust for power in this novel which we have in our current society. I think when it comes to humans, we are all the same, both in the novel and in reality.

[CrossK]

While the futuristic society being portrayed in this book definitely had some of its advantages such as an orderly structure and cohesion, so much of the spontaneity and free will was removed from their general lives for me to still rate it above ours.