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You're looking at something and calling it 'surveillance' because you don't yet have a word to describe the entire thing. It's too new so you see it through you
by david_at 8y ago
You're looking at something and calling it 'surveillance' because you don't yet have a word to describe the entire thing. It's too new so you see it through your 'old eyes'. You noticed there was a camera involved and you knew what that was so you ran with it.
It's the proverbial blind man whose hand has happened to land on the tusk and he tells his companions, "It's a spear!". You're not seeing the whole elephant because you've never seen one.
It benefits you when other people have knowledge about the world. It benefits you if other people have the knowledge to drive safely. It benefits you that your neighbours have a basic knowledge of germ theory and don't throw their sewage in the streets like medieval peasants. It benefits you that your fellow voters have at least a basic education and can make somewhat informed decisions. It benefits you that medical knowledge isn't locked away in some vault in Alexandria but it's in the mind of the doctor whose preventing an outbreak of some disease you happen to be susceptible to.
Did you not read the things I was able to learn just from my first node? We can give so many people free access to information that would push back darkness, fear and superstition just a little further. And these people would do and build things that would make your life better.
So instead of channelling the Archbishop of Canterbury telling Bible translator John Wycliffe that too much knowledge will corrupt the commoners, open your eyes.
- GordonS 8y agoI think what you've done here is interesting, fascinating even - but also terrifying, and better belonging in the realm of sci-fi, rather than the real world. You talk about undeniable benefits knowledge, giving specific examples - yes, there are many examples where knowledge is useful and can improve lives, but I really don't see how knowing what time my neighbour takes a dump will benefit myself or humanity (a crude example, but you get the idea). > Did you not read the things I was able to learn just from my first node I guess you mean the "Use Cases" section on the linked page. Yes, I read those, and they played a large part in my comment you are replying to. For example: > A citizen or public servant who wants to know what any citizen or (rival) public servant is doing at this moment or has ever done before Sorry, I value my privacy and that of others. And this was the nail in the coffin: > I now know most of my neighourhood's average height, individual walking gait identification pattern, estimated salary based on car model, family structure, daily schedules, how many (visibly) pregnant women, on what days in July the guy across the street mowed his lawn, the pattern he mowed it in the 8th time and that it was the same day my other neighbour had 5 guests over for a get together. I can rewind and replay it from multiple angles in 3D. If I really want, I can convert it to spreadsheet format, etc. Just.... no. Please.
- david_at 8y agoThat data may be trash to you but to a sociologist, to an economist, to an epidemiologist, to an anthropologist, to a historian, to a city planner, to a property developer, to an investment firm, to an insurance company, to a kinesiologist and on and on... it's TREASURE.
- GordonS 8y ago...and I treasure my privacy.
- david_at 8y agoThen don't install a Twitch streaming video camera in your bathroom. And don't order a custom t-shirt with your banking password printed across the chest. This isn't rocket science. If you're out and about in view of others, you don't have privacy. By definition of what we call "privacy" that is the exact opposite of privacy. https://media.giphy.com/media/NPyHgTkMStCXC/giphy.gif https://media.giphy.com/media/NPyHgTkMStCXC/giphy.gif