{"id":846,"date":"2013-12-31T13:19:10","date_gmt":"2013-12-31T21:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.stevenreidbordmd.com\/?p=846"},"modified":"2013-12-31T17:04:24","modified_gmt":"2014-01-01T01:04:24","slug":"loss-of-privacy-and-the-new-psychic-numbing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.stevenreidbordmd.com\/?p=846","title":{"rendered":"Loss of privacy and the new psychic numbing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"surveillance_camera\"<\/a>I grew up in the era of the nuclear arms standoff. \u00a0Thousands of warheads on land, at sea, and in planes stood ready to obliterate most of the human race if the Soviets, Americans, or a rogue third nation launched a nuclear “first strike.” \u00a0Authors of that era wrote of the psychological<\/a> effects<\/a> of living under such a threat (not that it is gone now, but it certainly felt different back then). \u00a0Some said it rendered life fundamentally meaningless<\/a>. \u00a0Why indulge personal hopes or dreams when we, our community, our entire culture could be gone in an instant? \u00a0Psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton coined the term “psychic numbing<\/a>” for the denial we employed, individually and collectively, to allow us to live our lives while faced with the real and ever-present risk that our world might end that very day.<\/p>\n

Psychic numbing was curious yet undeniable. \u00a0We all knew the danger was real. \u00a0But because the unimaginable horror of World War Three was coupled with an apparent inability to do anything about it, we told ourselves the likelihood was low and somehow pushed it aside. \u00a0Instead of being the top priority it arguably should have been, nuclear annihilation lurked like an ominous cloud at the periphery of consciousness. \u00a0We and our comedians made nervous jokes about it. \u00a0A few idealists joined peace and disarmament groups. \u00a0Meanwhile, the rest of us watched warily out of the corner of our eye, weighed down by a pervading fatalism and\u00a0learned helplessness<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The dynamic of psychic numbing is repeating itself today. \u00a0This time it is not the existential risk of nuclear war, but the reality of losing our privacy. \u00a0Revelations that our own government monitors our private telephone conversations<\/a> and tracks our vehicles<\/a>, allegations that a few years ago would have been waved off as paranoid rantings<\/a>, are now headline news. \u00a0We now know that our email is scrutinized for keywords<\/a>\u00a0(and possibly collected and stored in its entirety<\/a>), and our cellphones are used to track our locations<\/a>. \u00a0Like the nuclear threat of the 1970s, it feels as if we can’t do anything about it. \u00a0Our discomfort lurks\u00a0like an ominous cloud at the periphery of consciousness. \u00a0We and our comedians make nervous jokes about the NSA. \u00a0A few idealists join activist groups to oppose the scrutiny of innocent citizens. \u00a0Meanwhile, the rest of us watch warily out of the corner of our eye, weighed down by a pervading fatalism and learned helplessness.<\/p>\n

The theft of privacy has been opportunistic and widespread. \u00a0The 9\/11 terrorist attack justified not only “security<\/a> theater<\/a>” at airports, but also a trading away of everyday privacy in the name of national security. \u00a0Video cameras monitor public areas<\/a> in major cities; license plates of highway traffic are\u00a0scanned<\/a>\u00a0en masse and recorded by local and state police; the FBI can activate your laptop’s webcam<\/a> remotely and secretly (with a court order). \u00a0Meanwhile, quite apart from national security or law enforcement considerations, internet privacy<\/a>\u00a0has become an oxymoron. \u00a0The social web<\/a>, an aspect of Web 2.0<\/a>, promoted living one’s life in full view of “friends” and others. \u00a0Facebook and Twitter distribute micro-doses of fame to monetize the formerly private lives of their users. \u00a0Younger people post photos of themselves in compromising situations while failing to appreciate the permanence of these images. \u00a0Older people use online health and mental health support sites, not realizing their “private” conversations are archived and publicly searchable. \u00a0A great many advertisers and others track web activity for commercial purposes, amassing huge databases without users’ knowledge or consent. \u00a0Whether on actual highways or the quaintly-named information superhighway, the distinction between public and private is quickly eroding away.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is privacy pass\u00e9, a luxury we can no longer afford? \u00a0Psychic numbing tells us to shrug and bear the new reality. \u00a0As many thought 30 or 40 years ago about the nuclear arms race, loss of privacy appears to be the price of living in our modern world.<\/p>\n

Don’t believe it. \u00a0The forces that now seek to strip us of individuality and dignity have always been here. \u00a0New technologies present novel challenges<\/a>, but human nature hasn’t changed. \u00a0It took decades to realize we weren’t forced to live with Mutual Assured Destruction<\/a> hanging over our heads. \u00a0When we overcome our psychic numbing this time, we will re-discover that nervous humor, wary sidelong glances, and helpless fatalism are not effective ways to deal with a real problem. \u00a0We will re-discover the value and honor in self-respect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I grew up in the era of the nuclear arms standoff. Thousands of warheads on land, at sea, and in planes stood ready to obliterate most of the human race if the Soviets, Americans, or a rogue third nation launched a nuclear “first strike.” Authors of that era wrote of the psychological effects of living […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[62,36,58],"class_list":["post-846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","tag-denial","tag-risk","tag-violence","odd"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.stevenreidbordmd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.stevenreidbordmd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.stevenreidbordmd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.stevenreidbordmd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.stevenreidbordmd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=846"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/blog.stevenreidbordmd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":853,"href":"http:\/\/blog.stevenreidbordmd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846\/revisions\/853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.stevenreidbordmd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.stevenreidbordmd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.stevenreidbordmd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}