Sunday, November 27, 2016

Privacy at very public times

One thing I notice is that most people I know knows where I am. By the way, I know where most people I know are right now…

It seems that the time for total surveillance – and we could say matrix surveillance since everyone can check on everybody else – is here, for a few years now. So, what about privacy?

In fact, the feeling of privacy is needed to build a strong sense of self-esteem. Without privacy, it is hard to understand a person’s role in the society and, as a result, to love and appreciate the self, the very basis of self-esteem. Without self-esteem… well, we may have a society, but people won’t thrive for success, they won’t try their best and they will normally drift away.

However, in certain human civilizations, that is not so true. The example of Ubuntu in Africa comes to mind and it implies that self-esteem may also be built on the basis of a strong bond with each other, where everyone’s welfare means a person’s welfare.


Maybe the lack of privacy is pushing the rest of civilization to rethink itself; Ubuntu and other cultural practices and systems can provide a model for a new era where privacy wouldn’t be an issue due to its absence.

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