The authorities might regard keeping a diary and dangerous because it lessens the control and influence they have over that certain individual. By keeping a diary of recorded events one cannot be so easily brainwashed and mislead by the Party and is therefore a threat, because the diary is a form of dissent. The contents of Winston's diary are particularly harmful because not only does he write about the hatred he feels towards the Party, but he also writes about the type of life one is forced to lead. The implications of this is that Winston is discussing the true nature of the Party and by telling the truth and not some glorious sugar coated interpretation he is damaging the party's reputation and lessening their control over him and other he may influence with the diary.
The discussion with the old man indicates to us that the proles seem to be in a sense indifferent to their situation and surroundings. The old man ignores most of Winstons's questions, rather changing the subject instead of answering. It can be argued whether he does this because the past evokes in him a senseless nostalgia or because he too has been caught up in the brainwashing antics of the party. Winston himself quotes " Since the few scattered survivors from the ancient world were incapable of comparing one age with another". .
There are numerous reason why the Party alters and changes the past. The main being as a method of control. When the party alters the past it does so that it cannot be contradicted, proven wrong and therefore is blamless. " The claim of the Party to have improved the conditions of human life had got to be accepted, because there did not exist, and never again could exist, any standard against which it could be tested". This first quote highlights that the Party's constant changing of the past made it impossible for Winton and anybody else to determine the difference between fact and fiction.