4 ms·
This reminded me about quote from "Player of Games" a Culture novel by Ian Banks. Said by a character with diplomatic immunity after a particularly interesting
by TrainedMonkey 13y ago
This reminded me about quote from "Player of Games" a Culture novel by Ian Banks.
Said by a character with diplomatic immunity after a particularly interesting anti government statement: "We pretend they do not listen to us and they pretend they do not hear anything."
- prateekj 13y agoExcept in this case, the pretense is getting less convincing with each passing day.
- n09n 13y agoIt doesn't matter how convincing it is or isn't as long as you are just choosing to pretend you believe it.
- scotty79 13y agoI think that's a healthy approach in the world dominated by invincible technology and pervasive politics.
- harshreality 13y agoThe key point being diplomatic immunity. If you don't have it, they will not pretend they don't hear anything, and therefore you can't pretend they aren't listening to you. The possibility of unauthorized leaks of government intercepts attaches a cost to surveillance that cannot be ignored in any case. Plus, if your communications have ramifications beyond those who are a party to the communications, then, even if you cannot be charged with crimes based on intercepts of your communications, the knowledge from the intercepts can be used by the government to change the world in ways that you consider harmful.