Tuesday, November 18, 2014

The Meaning of Privacy

Privacy is a concept that I have often pondered. Why do people demand it? What's so important about it? Why can't we live happily without it? Isn't privacy just a polite word for secrecy? If so, then isn't it devious, and ultimately harmful? Well, I think I've finally come up with a way to think about our "need" for privacy in a way that could answer all these questions and more.

Ultimately, our desire for "privacy" is really a desire to not be judged by other people. When you look at it that way then our "need" for it starts to make sense. It is revealed as a pathological desire after all, for we only fear being judged when we have something to hide. That is, we only fear our loss of privacy when we have judged something about ourselves that we do not want others to judge likewise.

But, if we do not judge, then we have no desire for privacy. So, a world without judgement, i.e. a better more natural world, would have no hidden secrets, and no need for privacy.

Think about it.

(J.D. 10-24-2014)

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