Does it scare you that might be giving out too much information?

In the book,_ homo deus_, the author, Yuval Noah Harari, talks about a concert which I have become fascinated with, even though at a superficial level. This is the concept of dataism-- the ability and will to share everything.

The world has indeed become a better place because of the amount of information at the disposal of individual who ordinary would not have had assess to such because of factors like education, geographically location and the likes. Through the advent of the Internet communities have become more integrated and there has been, in my opinion, a vast intercultural exchange. I can relate with the U.K grime culture even though I have never walked the street of Essex; I can interact and share ideas with persons in another country, in real time, even though we are miles apart. This is as a result of technological advancement, and with this kind of progress we are encouraged to share more to build on what we have accomplished. The more we share, the more data is available to help make our life's experience better.

However, may are still very much skeptical about this concept of sharing every and anything. Some will argue that it serves no purpose and most of the information shared are actually useless. Some will even argue further that one needs to maintain a level of secrecy, like this tweet below:

source

Personally, I think secrecy as a concept doesn't apply in this modern time. I really don't think any aspect of our lives is a secret and many people want to believe otherwise as a means to feel secure. But is there any real security in secrecy? Now let's take for example the use passwords in protecting our accounts. You're meant to secure your password and not share with a third-party to enable you secure your account, and in most cases when such security codes are misplaced the owner and the said third-party do not have access to the account. Now, imagine a world where we do not need passwords to access our accounts; a world were we develop AIs that can significantly identify a user and obey his or her instructions. Now you have an open window only accessible to one.

Anything that is hidden and not accessible is dangerous and easily perverted. We've heard in time past where covert government or military operations have been perverted resulting to damages. The world powers are using secrecy to achieve security. But has anyone wonder what it would be like if governments and their operations were transparent? How easier it would be to checkmate certain irregularities and foster harmony, completely destroying this paranoia that against amongst governments in different state.

Now, on a personal level:
Does it scare you that you are giving too much information? Does it scare you that you are sharing and endorsing ideas you might refute in the nearest future

Personally, I have felt this way. Sharing information about oneself online opens a window to strangers, some of which are dangerous. But what if we knew the person accessing our data? What if we had details about their lives as well, will it be a fair bargain? The whole reason why people get panicky when it comes to releasing information about themselves is because of the unknown and if we can actually eliminate this factor, I believe people with be willing to share as much as they can.

Change is the only certain thing in life and it should not come as a surprise to you or anyone for that matter that your notion of what is ethical can change over time. I have seen people weaponise other people's past against them. I have said many things I do not agree with now and I do except people to point out this occasionally but I'm safe in the truth that it is okay to change.

My ideas are idealistic and might seem unattainable, but I dare to say that although it might seem impossible it is achievable. Look at the giant step we took with the blockchain technology, it is revolutionising the way we do business and manage records. If we can adopt this in other aspect of our lives, I believe it will go a long in fostering transparency and most importantly, safety. There is a certain level of security that comes with knowing and when people know, they want to know more. And how else can we know or improve on what we know if we don't share?

©nonsowrites, 2018