The Death of Privacy.

One of the most central aspects of being human and living a full human life is the notion of privacy which is linked fundamentally to freedom.  Once long ago there was little privacy for some who lived in small villages or individuals who lived together in small clusters.  However, in such a period people lived differently and thus gossip did not pose a central problem to human existence.  During the late Middle Ages people sought freedom and thus various revolutionary movements arose in an eventual effort to achieve true human freedom.  These movements eventually coalesced with the rise of capitalism into classical liberalism.  A central tenet of such liberalism was the fundamental right to be alone and to be rid of all influences from outsiders.  During this time period, there was a smaller population on the earth and thus more opportunities to live a solitary existence that had once been the privilege of only monks.  However, with the rise of the modern mass industrial state, and the increase in population, concerns began to be expressed about population growth which would eventually lead to the complete loss of privacy.  Ortega y Gassett predicted the rise of the mass man which posed a threat to the aristocratic way of life and high culture.  Gassett knew that this modern mass man was largely uncultured and ignorant and that he could crowd out the lone indvidual.  Erik von Kuehnelt-Liddehn perhaps one of the last aristocratic conservatives knew that the mass individual would destroy the libertarian society that existed under classical liberalism.  In more recent times advances in technology and in particular the advent of the computer were seen as threats to privacy.  Various movements arose to preserve nature and the natural environment.  Ted Kaczynski was one of the figures who developed a philosophy of "lonerism" and attempted to preserve the natural world.  However, with the rise of the internet and the mass mob on the internet there came a new threat to privacy.  A surveillance society arose in which cameras were visible everywhere and people could be tracked.  More government interference in individual life became prevelant.  Also, new internet companies began interfering with human privacy again and even private thoughts came under the control of the computer and the internet mob.  Some internet companies even proclaimed the death of privacy.  However, this would mean the death of what is truly human.  Further, new advances in medical research and new brain drugs allowed pharmaceutical companies to control the human mind and human emotions.  Combining all this with an increase in population and the rise of a technological computerized society spells bad for human privacy.  Thus, in today's world there is no longer a private space.  The eradication of privacy means the eradication and self destruction of humanity.  With the internet bad information weeds out good in an entropic process.  More human stupidity is made readily available, but with far greater consequences for that stupidity than in past eras.  The future looks bleak for humanity as computers take over further aspects of our lives, social networking sites complete control all human interactions in a way that past forms of technological communication, the telegraph, the telephone, and even email and cell phones have not.  The death of human privacy and the rise of computers that can even read human thoughts or even cyborg implants means the death of the uniqueness of the human individual.