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People are unlikely to fix that any time soon so we'd better keep that workaround as long as possible. Just look how fast racist attacks come after a news or po

People are unlikely to fix that any time soon so we'd better keep that workaround as long as possible. Just look how fast racist attacks come after a news or political event. Or the succession of attacks on the innocent because some thug mistook paediatrician for paedophile. In older days if you escaped the actual pitchforks you could move 20 miles away and start over. Now every moment of teen foolishness, those naive political beliefs at university, and that joint you smoked but "did not inhale" are either photographed or documented in perpetuity against your real name. That seems a massively foolish gift to everyone with a pitchfork, or looking to spend an amusing hour assembling a lynch mob, or even a short sighted potential employer. God help you if you want to run for office 30 years after your foolish teen excesses.

throwaway8879 8y ago
In a way, I suppose the only true freedom other than ceasing to exist is to have the ability to move. Having finite/scarce resources makes that almost impossible these days. Not much land to just exile yourself to. I hope we get to the point where a person can get into their hyperdrive vehicle and go find solitude in an uninhabited planet somewhere.
- frenchy 8y ago
  An exile to a lonely, uninhabited planet seems like a terrible punishment for most people. Fixing our judgmentalism and lack of grace is a much nicer solution, if possible.
  - pjmorris 8y ago
    One of the things that struck me in reading 'A History of the American People' by Paul Johnson was how often conflicts - resource, political, religious - were 'resolved' by one of the groups move into a lonely, uninhabited region, where they could arrange things to their liking. One of the things that strikes me in reading the news is how the conflicts are roughly the same as they were in Genesis and Exodus. My current take is that it is easier to find new land than it is to change human nature. I'm not saying it's not worthwhile to focus on changing judgmentalism and lack of grace in oneself. But I am skeptical of our species' ability to do it en masse.
TeMPOraL 8y ago
Random thought: alternatively, could we fast-forward to a day and age where everyone can find "teen foolishness" photos on everyone else, and thus nobody is blackmailable? Sanity through MADness, not unlike the current geopolitical situation.
- coldtea 8y ago
  That will just normalize basic teen foolishness (that everybody does), and still leave anybody going something more out of the norm be a target. Just like if e.g. in an alternate prohibition-era 20s everybody had drinking photos of others (since most still drank). Still plenty of room to condemn e.g. a person with teen photo that shows they are gay.
- NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  One can hope. I'm put immediately in mind of Dave Eggers book The Circle. Everyone else unless you are rich enough, or powerful enough. Thus in 2045, humanity's second great period of serfdom commenced. Also don't be a future person that embarrasses easily.
  - tomc1985 8y ago
    The second great period of serfdom has already begun. Look at the current crop of startups and what the average millenial (and older) is doing to make money... Uber, contract employment, renting, leasing.... nobody owns anything anymore unless you're doing well, which is increasingly rare
    - smsm42 8y ago
      Given you can't buy a house under $1M in pretty much all Silicon Valley by now, how rare it is? There are tons of houses and somebody buys them. So unless that's a dozen people who are buying all the houses - which I don't see the evidence of, e.g. lots of empty houses or massive rent/own ratio shift - somebody is doing well enough to buy those $1M houses.
      - 8y ago

throwaway8879 8y ago

In a way, I suppose the only true freedom other than ceasing to exist is to have the ability to move. Having finite/scarce resources makes that almost impossible these days. Not much land to just exile yourself to. I hope we get to the point where a person can get into their hyperdrive vehicle and go find solitude in an uninhabited planet somewhere.

frenchy 8y ago
An exile to a lonely, uninhabited planet seems like a terrible punishment for most people. Fixing our judgmentalism and lack of grace is a much nicer solution, if possible.
- pjmorris 8y ago
  One of the things that struck me in reading 'A History of the American People' by Paul Johnson was how often conflicts - resource, political, religious - were 'resolved' by one of the groups move into a lonely, uninhabited region, where they could arrange things to their liking. One of the things that strikes me in reading the news is how the conflicts are roughly the same as they were in Genesis and Exodus. My current take is that it is easier to find new land than it is to change human nature. I'm not saying it's not worthwhile to focus on changing judgmentalism and lack of grace in oneself. But I am skeptical of our species' ability to do it en masse.

TeMPOraL 8y ago

Random thought: alternatively, could we fast-forward to a day and age where everyone can find "teen foolishness" photos on everyone else, and thus nobody is blackmailable? Sanity through MADness, not unlike the current geopolitical situation.

coldtea 8y ago
That will just normalize basic teen foolishness (that everybody does), and still leave anybody going something more out of the norm be a target. Just like if e.g. in an alternate prohibition-era 20s everybody had drinking photos of others (since most still drank). Still plenty of room to condemn e.g. a person with teen photo that shows they are gay.
NeedMoreTea 8y ago
One can hope. I'm put immediately in mind of Dave Eggers book The Circle. Everyone else unless you are rich enough, or powerful enough. Thus in 2045, humanity's second great period of serfdom commenced. Also don't be a future person that embarrasses easily.
- tomc1985 8y ago
  The second great period of serfdom has already begun. Look at the current crop of startups and what the average millenial (and older) is doing to make money... Uber, contract employment, renting, leasing.... nobody owns anything anymore unless you're doing well, which is increasingly rare
  - smsm42 8y ago
    Given you can't buy a house under $1M in pretty much all Silicon Valley by now, how rare it is? There are tons of houses and somebody buys them. So unless that's a dozen people who are buying all the houses - which I don't see the evidence of, e.g. lots of empty houses or massive rent/own ratio shift - somebody is doing well enough to buy those $1M houses.
    - 8y ago