> When everyone you know lives in a really small area, a lot of stuff is apparent by inference and can't really be hidden. This ends up de facto reining in beha

> When everyone you know lives in a really small area, a lot of stuff is apparent by inference and can't really be hidden. This ends up de facto reining in behavior without anyone necessarily telling you to stop. That’s a terrible way to live, IMO. Humans grow and evolve (not in the strict biological sense) by experimenting and doing things that others may frown upon (for reasons good or destructive). That people in the past had very little agency of their own for a species like ours is a blemish on social structures. All the freedoms we take for granted today have been enabled by or have come in conjunction with having better privacy. We need a balance, but going back to how it used to be would be counterproductive.