Re: Gingrich, Moynihan step down

Scott Badger (wbadger@psyberlink.net)
Wed, 11 Nov 1998 16:31:26 -0600

>Brin had a rather extended and at time vile conversation with a number of
us a
>year or so ago on this list vis a avis privacy issues in general. While his
>logic of making everyone accountable to everyone else due to total open
>survellance would definitely result in little crime or exploitation, and
>possibly enhance the market by fact that it would result in much better
>price/value signals, he is, like communists/socialists in the past and many
>social engineers today, trying to push a change of behavior which is
totally
>contrary to human nature. ignoring the fact that most people LIKE their
privacy,
>his concept has little possibility of being accepted unless the population
is
>scared into it by a totalitarian propaganda machine........ hmmmm, that
sounds
>familiar....
>
>Mike Lorrey
>

Really? A desire for privacy is part of human nature? Are there any studies that support that hypothesis? Do you mean to say that there was some evolutionary advantage available to those who preferred to be alone? The only survival value I can think of off the top of my head would be that when one was alone and unmonitored, one had an opportunity to hide, or to steal, or do something else unbeknownst to the rest of the tribe that would give one some sort of unfair (but effective) advantage. Any other advantages come to mind that might have resulted in a preference for privacy being hard-wired into our circuitry?

Scott Badger

Quest into the unknown - Mr. Natural