From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Sat Aug 02 2003 - 01:20:26 MDT
Alex wrote
> I'm all for transparency in theory, but just how transparent
> should we make things? Is there anyone on the list that
> would willingly display every facet of their life to the
> rest of the world ?
I would happily, *happily* do so if everyone else would,
or, in other words, I would contribute towards the development
of technology that would enable any of us to spy all the time
on any of us.
> Would you really like your Mother, Boss or neighbours
> to be able to watch while you improve your prostate
> health (as described in a recent post) ?
I have overcome, at great cost and difficulty, the
notion that I am or would be especially interesting
for people to observe.
I even go so far as to imagine that neither my mother
nor my boss would lack for better things to do than
monitor or spy on me. I have already reached the
point that all I would feel is pity for those who
would waste their time penetrating my paltry secrets
and following the boring details of my life. ;-)
> In an 'ideal' transparent world where access to
> information about anyone and anything, anywhere
> is available. Where do we set the level for
> personal privacy? if at all.
Alex, let's just let it all hang out. (Or do I give
my generational allegiance away?)
Natasha writes
> I like this list being transparent, and I'm more inclined
> to promote a transparent culture. Conversely, I am a very
> private person and don't like people knowing my personal
> business unless I share it.
But perhaps if there were 6x10^9 other people you would have
to compete with for attention, then you'd feel (properly)
neglected.
> The problem is the gossip and assumption factors. If we
> don't tell everything, people make assumptions. If I lived
> in a society that was more compassionate and reasonable, I
> wouldn't mind it being much more transparent - and that
> goes for my personal life.
This touches on the key point to me. It's never the *knowledge*
of what I or anyone else is up to that is crucial, it's the
*power* to do something about it. I think that if we survey
the literature that addresses totalitarian oppression, from
the Spanish Inquisition to Nineteen-Eighty-Four, then we find
that it's not at all the surveillance that is the problem, but
rather the ability of the authorities to *do* something about
it. Solzhenitsyn uses an entire chapter to describe "The Arrest".
If we are safe in our persons and property, then let's not
care what is known about us.
Lee
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