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> They can certainly help us understand those people better. What exactly do you think you would learn about Feynman that is so important you feel your right t
by throwawaycities 5y ago
> They can certainly help us understand those people better.
What exactly do you think you would learn about Feynman that is so important you feel your right to his personal correspondence to his wife outweighs his privacy (even from the grave).
It’s not a new or novel debate, one of the more famous discussions on the topic would be the publication of the diary of Anne Frank. Unlike Feynman she wasn’t a historical figure, until after publication of her diary. If you agree with the publication do you object to the decision to withhold publication of a number of pages and if so on what basis?
It’s also not entirely unrelated to archeology/grave robbing. What exactly gives people/governments the right to dig up and loot tombs? Courts are still trying to figure out the remedies where those bodies/artifacts were taken by foreign governments and are currently being proudly displayed in foreign museums to the public. Presumably you might think it tasteless to go down to a local cemetery and begin digging up graves in search for jewelry and personal affects, but would being a “historical figure” really change your mind? Do you not see the connection? If not what is your moral distinction since you don’t think it’s tasteless so long as the market is deciding the value?
- stickfigure 5y agoThey're dead, they're beyond caring. Honestly this "sanctity of the dead" concept is a bit antiquated. Cremate the bodies, recycle the physical goods, move on.
- wyager 5y agoYou should apply chesterton's fence to long-standing social traditions like this. There are certainly compelling reasons to respect the dead's wishes, even if the reasons are not apparent to you personally.
- robertlagrant 5y agoChesterton's fence is hard to apply in a vacuum, especially for subjective matters. Got any clues as to where to start? If not, this is just like when business people talk about "scalable" in meetings. Means nothing without more info.
- kodah 5y agoI think it's less sanctity of the dead and more consent on what is allowed to be published. It's a fair argument. If I stumble across someone's messages to their ex-girlfriend who is now well-renowned in my circles, am I allowed to publish them? If they're dead does it really impact the ethics?
- ignoramous 5y agoPrivacy of their personal information is now well and truly something for the famous to consider codifying it in their Will going forward... Much like in the Google/Meta dominated online world, the default is opt-in, it'd seem, as that likely generates capital such "estates" need, to survive.
- stickfigure 5y ago> If they're dead does it really impact the ethics? Yes? I feel pretty comfortable saying that the live/dead status of the author (and subjects) is one of many factors that affects the ethics involved in publishing something like that. That seems to be the question of this thread, no?
- mattigames 5y agoYet you evade the most obvious question of how would the children (and grandchildren) of the dead would feel about such usage of their remains, may it be a letter or a 4K private sex tape.
- stickfigure 5y agoEh? If my grandmother's sex "tapes" (we're probably talking 16mm film) are circulating, good for her! I sincerely hope she had a more excitement in her life than simply raising kids in the depression. I would be proud. How would my child feel about videos of me and/or his mother? I'm pretty sure just as squicked as any kid will be about the idea of their parents having sex. Which they all know we do. You pretend otherwise to your kids?
- throwawaycities 5y agoYou may not care, yet Humans have codified an entire body of law known as estate planning to see deceased's wishes carried out. Do you not have an estate plan on the basis once you’re dead you are beyond caring? Or do you have an estate plan but feel it is ok to violate on the basis you will be beyond caring and there is no sanctity of the dead? Why even suggest cremation? Such a preference seems to contradict being beyond caring.
- mattigames 5y agoI hope someone publishes the sex tapes of your grandparents 33 years after their death to help you put things into perspective, or perhaps you really believe what you are saying and would consider the enjoyment of those videos by strangers as "recicling".
- bobthepanda 5y agoHonestly, the best people to make that kind of judgement would be the person's personal relatives. It seems like Feynman's estate is selling the objects, it's not like someone robbed his grave.
- saagarjha 5y agoOne of the problems here is that the Feynman estate has a significant conflict of interest when making this decision: namely, they get money from it.
- tcgv 5y ago> the best people to make that kind of judgement would be the person's personal relatives To expand on that the best person to make this kind of judgement would be Feynman himself. But then I'm not sure if had he ever made a claim on whether he would allow these letters to become public / be sold, if such a claim would have any legal value to be enforced after his death. In the end we are left with his personal relatives, and what the law regulates regarding their rights to share Feynman private letters posthumously.