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Finally, I'm very uncomfortable with the way surveillance makes me want to self-censor. Congratulations: that makes you part of the second category, the under-
by cstross 13y ago
Finally, I'm very uncomfortable with the way surveillance makes me want to self-censor.
Congratulations: that makes you part of the second category, the under-privileged -- like the inmates of Bentham's original panopticon, felons under surveillance in gaol, unsure whether they were being watched at any time.
(Seriously, if you're retreating into self-censorship and worrying about privacy because of a lack of anonymity, then you're clearly in the disempowered group. Not as underprivileged as some, but sufficiently to be feeling the chill wind down your neck. Welcome to the club.)
- summerdown2 13y agoTo some degree, I think you're right. But I also think there's another argument to be made here: Put as straightforwardly as I can, the two conditions in your original post seem to me negative: a) Those who want to abuse others anonymously create negatives in society. b) Those who want freedom from abuse are trying to escape negatives in society. I think in addition to those, there is something that makes privacy a positive. Here's an analogy: it's like defining mental health as "not being sick." A lot of psychology has historically treated it this way, but then I read people like Victor Frankl, or look at the Self-Actualisation piece of Maslow's Hierarchy and I see health can mean connectedness, joy and many things that don't fit on a purely negative level. I don't know how I'd even begin to articulate the things I find positive about privacy, but I do think there's something. Perhaps I'd start with appealing to you as a writer. Isn't the ability to get lost in your thoughts and be creative without censoring the flow somehow connected to privacy?