I’m very torn when I read about technologies whose goal is to make us
anonymous. Something just seems a little sleazy about technologies such as
Bittorrent, Bitcoin, illegal warez sites, viruses, trojans, and the referenced
decentralized storage system. Whenever I’ve visited such sites, I sort of feel
like I need to disinfect the computer (with chemical disinfectant, not
antivirus software). I always feel that somehow I’ve been a naughty boy
afterwards.
I suppose it hearkens back to what we westerners have always been taught about
the relationship between freedom and responsibility. I relate anonymity to
freedom, in the sense that I can say whatever outlandish thing I want when I’m
anonymous, with no direct repercussions except for conscience or karma. On the
other hand, I relate non-anonymity with responsibility, since if my real
identity is known, I will likely be held accountable for things I say. My gut
feeling is that from a psychological perspective, desire for anonymity (and
even freedom) is more associated with adolescence ("I want it my way", or “I
know a secret”), and responsibility is more associated with adulthood (when we
have hopefully learned that our actions have consequences). I also suspect
there is a male / female component, as I view men as more inflexible about
abstract things like freedom than are women (I doubt Patricia Henry would have
said anything like “Give me liberty or give me death"). That overabundance of
testosterone seems to drive men toward wanting freedom (e.g. from commitment) -
fortunately we aren’t completely wired that way.
I realize that there are many situations where anonymity is important, such as
subverting tyrannical political systems. But in the long run, I suppose I come
down more strongly on the non-anonymity side. I think that to truly grow as a
species, we need to be take more responsibility for our actions, not less.
Looking forward to a fruitful discussion :-)
Gary Schiltz
> On Jan 11, 2015, at 1:31 PM, Marcus G. Daniels <mar...@snoutfarm.com> wrote:
>
> A decentralized, secure alternative to Dropbox..
>
> http://storj.io
============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
