Re: Privacy

Paul Wakfer (70023.3041@CompuServe.COM)
19 Dec 96 05:30:31 EST


On 19-Dec-96 00:19 PST, max m wrote:

>Paul Wakfer wrote:
>>
>> On 18-Dec-96 00:54 PST, max m wrote:
>>
>> >Paul Wakfer wrote:
>> >
>> >>Why are you so concerned? Are you ashamed of your behavior? If so, then
>> >>why did you do it?
>> >
>> >That's not of your bussines! :)
>>
>> These were, of course, rhetorical questions, intended to make you think, and
>> not answer to me but to yourself.
>>
>
>Yes and my answer was to show you that i don't agree that your line of
>argument is valid if you don't agree with the premis.

Thanks for clarifying your reply. As I understand it now, your view turns out
to be similar to that of another reply (sorry I didn't keep a copy and forget
who it was) that, in effect, one's desire for privacy of certain aspects of
one's life is nothing more than an arbitrary 'taste' which I have no business
questioning or passing judgement on.

However, I reject this view of a person's desire for privacy. I strongly
believe that a deep concern for privacy is psychologically unhealthy. To the
extent that someone has this need, they are to that extent psychologically
crippled and certainly less estimable in my judgement than someone who has no
need for personal privacy.

It is reasonable that someone does not wish to openly show certain aspects
of ones life if one will be physically bothered by others because of it (as
someone pointed out), however, I still believe that it is a fair question to
ask "Why are you bothered by someone seeing you engaged in what are 'normally'
considered private functions, if that person does absolutely nothing physical
to bother you". My view is that you have no rational basis for being concerned
with the thoughts of another, however, lecherous or otherwise evil, so long as
those thoughts do not result in any physical (and I include verbal with
physical) response.

Furthermore, I think some aspects of the desire for privacy are ass-
backwards and should be turned around. Many things which we keep private in our
day to day lives are done so not because of any rational inconvenience to
ourselves but because we do not wish to bother others.

-- Paul --

Paul Wakfer
email:70023.3041@compuserve.com phone:909-481-9620 pager:800-805-2870

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