Humanity is so weird about surveillance and privacy when you take religion into account

[The Notorious SLAV]

For millenia, people hoped that there are divine beings watching everything they do and justly judging them, but the moment technology actually reaches the point where global, 24/7 surveillance allowing everyone's deeds to be recorded is possible, if not a fact in some places or under some definitions, suddenly everyone starts freaking out about it. That despite the fact that it's the speed of punishment, not the severity of it, that deters crime, and the two things which make it possible, namely increased surveillance and law enforcement presence, are pretty much the leading factors in the continuous drop in crime rates over the centuries.

Reminds me of how back when I was still in school, when it was announced that our school will be getting security cameras, I seemed to be the only one who liked the idea, while everyone else was shitting on it. Coincidentally, I was also the only one openly identified by the teachers as a bullied kid, who a few of them openly sympathized with and didn't like to see how I was treated by the others. Hmm, I wonder if there's a link there.

 

[Anarcho Nihilist]

For millenia, people hoped that there are divine beings watching everything they do and justly judging them, but the moment technology actually reaches the point where global, 24/7 surveillance allowing everyone's deeds to be recorded is possible, if not a fact in some places or under some definitions, suddenly everyone starts freaking out about it. That despite the fact that it's the speed of punishment, not the severity of it, that deters crime, and the two things which make it possible, namely increased surveillance and law enforcement presence, are pretty much the leading factors in the continuous drop in crime rates over the centuries.

Reminds me of how back when I was still in school, when it was announced that our school will be getting security cameras, I seemed to be the only one who liked the idea, while everyone else was shitting on it. Coincidentally, I was also the only one openly identified by the teachers as a bullied kid, who a few of them openly sympathized with and didn't like to see how I was treated by the others. Hmm, I wonder if there's a link there.

Because most people have always been atheists. Even today, in Saudi Arabia, where apostasy is punishable by death. According to unofficial reports, about 20% of the population is a secret atheist

 

[Anarcho Nihilist]

For millenia, people hoped that there are divine beings watching everything they do and justly judging them, but the moment technology actually reaches the point where global, 24/7 surveillance allowing everyone's deeds to be recorded is possible, if not a fact in some places or under some definitions, suddenly everyone starts freaking out about it. That despite the fact that it's the speed of punishment, not the severity of it, that deters crime, and the two things which make it possible, namely increased surveillance and law enforcement presence, are pretty much the leading factors in the continuous drop in crime rates over the centuries.

Reminds me of how back when I was still in school, when it was announced that our school will be getting security cameras, I seemed to be the only one who liked the idea, while everyone else was shitting on it. Coincidentally, I was also the only one openly identified by the teachers as a bullied kid, who a few of them openly sympathized with and didn't like to see how I was treated by the others. Hmm, I wonder if there's a link there.

Secondly, the Christian god is presented as all-forgiving, unlike the Leviathan state machine. This means that most people are not afraid of god's control because they genuinely believe that he will forgive them for anything, as he is a kind god.

 

[D. B. Gooner]

Good point, people never believed in the divine, but the possibility of it existing made it so they would feel less guilty, as they would then be judged for their deeds. The idea makes inflicting harm even seem noble, tragic, self-destructive.
"The subject of my malice is suffering now, but I'll suffer eternally, so who's the real victim?"

I'm not moralfagging btw, I think people shouldn't feel guilt for any of their deeds at all but them using higher powers as a way to justify actions they never needed to justify in the first place has always pissed me off.

 

[Roastie Crusher]

For millenia, people hoped that there are divine beings watching everything they do and justly judging them

That was a long standing debate within Christianity. And Dante constructed a vision of hell that the bible didn't.

A 1984 panopticon state is real in that in can send you to hell right now by unjustly punishing, torturing, and killing you for nothing. There's at least some odds that Heaven and Hell are fictional.

People get used to surveillance because it takes too much energy to fight it.

 

[GeckoBus]

For millenia, people hoped that there are divine beings watching everything they do and justly judging them, but the moment technology actually reaches the point where global, 24/7 surveillance allowing everyone's deeds to be recorded is possible, if not a fact in some places or under some definitions, suddenly everyone starts freaking out about it. That despite the fact that it's the speed of punishment, not the severity of it, that deters crime, and the two things which make it possible, namely increased surveillance and law enforcement presence, are pretty much the leading factors in the continuous drop in crime rates over the centuries.

Reminds me of how back when I was still in school, when it was announced that our school will be getting security cameras, I seemed to be the only one who liked the idea, while everyone else was shitting on it. Coincidentally, I was also the only one openly identified by the teachers as a bullied kid, who a few of them openly sympathized with and didn't like to see how I was treated by the others. Hmm, I wonder if there's a link there.

• "The need to be observed and understood was once satisfied by God. Now we can implement the same functionality with data-mining algorithms."
  
  
  
• "The human organism always worships. First it was the gods, then it was fame (the observation and judgment of others), next it will be the self-aware systems you have built to realize truly omnipresent observation and judgment."
• "The individual desires judgment. Without that desire, the cohesion of groups is impossible, and so is civilization."
• "You will soon have your God, and you will make it with your own hands."
  
  
  View: https://youtu.be/pKN9trFSACI
  

 

[The Notorious SLAV]

Secondly, the Christian god is presented as all-forgiving, unlike the Leviathan state machine. This means that most people are not afraid of god's control because they genuinely believe that he will forgive them for anything, as he is a kind god.

Maybe, but the existence of Hell as often imagined implies that at least some people would end up there. Violent psychopaths would justify their acts in any way, but the people around them would still expect them to be damned.

That was a long standing debate within Christianity. And Dante constructed a vision of hell that the bible didn't.

AFAIK, the main debates were between annihilationism, finite torment and eternal torment, with the latter eventually winning and becoming the dogma.

A 1984 panopticon state is real in that in can send you to hell right now by unjustly punishing, torturing, and killing you for nothing. There's at least some odds that Heaven and Hell are fictional.

People get used to surveillance because it takes too much energy to fight it.

Yeah, that's why I added the part about icreased surveillance playing a major part in declining crime rates. An all-seeing state can easily destroy you, even more efficiently than a simple authoritarian state, but I do need to admit I can't imagine trying to participate in organized crime in such a place being anything easy.

Also, an important caveat here, talking about surveillance I also meant that used by private individuals, not just that solely used by the state (the former of course being accessible to state authorities whenever they need). Like people placing cameras to watch their property, or permanently having cameras on themselves. Basically everything that makes sure that no altercation will ever be a "He said, she said," situation, but something that will be recorded from multiple angles and capable of being replayed at will.

 

[Taboo Buster]

Yeah, I don't care if any supernatural entities are watching me. Never been bothered by one.
But a human peeping tom is another can o'worms.