Readability Score: 11.6
1. Define: ubiquitous, norm, quantified, digitized,
panopticon, transparent, symmetrical, equitable, juncture, bias, backlash,
modernity
2. What does the writer mean by “coveillance”? What does he
mean by “watching the watchers”?
3. If you believe something is inevitable, does that mean you
shouldn't try to stop it? Why or why not? What are some things that people have
thought were inevitable that people have fought anyway?
“It is no coincidence that the glories of progress in the
past 300 years parallel the emergence of the private self and challenges to the
authority of society.”
4. What does the writer mean by the “emergence of the private
self”? What does he suggest about the relationship between privacy and personal
freedom?
5. Why did our primitive ancestors have to accept the
authority of society to such a great extent?
6. Does the fact that they did so mean that the individual
self is a modern invention? Do you think our forebears ever had their own
desires, apart from the interests of the group?
7. What are some ways in recent centuries or millennia that
we have created societies that can survive while allowing us to fulfill more of
our individual desires, or even allowing others to benefit from such individual
initiative? What are some ways in which individuals have taken advantage of this
freedom?
8. “[T]he human impulse to share trumps the human impulse for
privacy.” If this is true, how were we able to move away from societal authority
and toward individual freedom in the first place?
9. “Encoding visible systems open to all eyes makes gaming
them for secret ends more difficult.” Is it okay for society to reestablish its
authority over us as long as nobody games the system for “secret ends?” Why or
why not?
“We are now expanding our self by inhabiting virtual spaces,
linking up to billions of other minds, and trillions of other mechanical
intelligences. We are wider than we were, and as we offload our memories to
infinite machines, deeper in some ways. Amplified coveillance will shift society
to become even more social; more importantly it will change how we define
ourselves as humans.”
10. Is it actually possible to merge our minds with others or
redefine who we are as humans? If such a project is attempted, who will do this
defining? Will we all have to accept it? Explain.
11. Is it possible or desirable to expand our selves onto
other selves? If so, is it worth it to lose control of our own individual selves
in return for participation in some larger self? Why or why not?
