VOYEURISTIC HUMAN NATURE

THE INTERNET NEVER FORGETS

Godan dag fella, welcome to My Monday Map. I have something light for you.

Yesterday 10th October was World Mental Health day. It was a good day to remind folks around the world to take their mental wellness as seriously as their knack for productivity. And as Busyminds, we consider your mind and mental health, a mighty tool for your life's wellbeing. So, take care.

Here is what I want to share: The Voyeuristic Human nature. Let's see how it goes.

THE VOYEURISTIC HUMAN NATURE:

Humans are by nature more interested in what others are hiding than what others are showing us. Classic human nature.

Voyeurism is used literally to describe a type of sexual pleasure obtained by watching others perform sexual acts in secret. A voyeur is someone who finds pleasure in watching others as they have their secret intimate moments.

I describe human nature with this word because it isn't just a sexual instinct. It is an underlying part of the human makeup that touches everything else. We are deeply fascinated by what you are hiding, that whatever you are showing us matters less.

We have gone on to establish epistemological processes on this voyeuristic instinct- chief of which is empiricism. This need to know what is not immediately obvious yet objective, lies at the bed of empirical systems. I must say that psychology may just be a cool kind of voyeurism. Voyeurism is extreme curiosity.

Social Media Voyeurism

The biggest invention inspired by voyeurism is social media. With social media, voyeurism is commonplace, not taboo, almost normal. But it gets better. With social media, we do not just have the need to peer into that which ought to be hidden. We are also motivated to reveal what ought to be hidden. There is something about social networks that lowers the need to keep things private. Hence with social media, both the voyeur and the 'voyeured' agree to this habit, diminishing privacy in return. Social media is like porn. The actors and the audience are mostly in agreement. Except that you can put your whole life on it. It is an invitation for others to see your life as much as you are willing to give. There is power in privacy. But we seem to forget this.

Celebrity culture and sex tape fears are downsides of this instinct that is amplified on a digital scale. The need to see into the lives of celebrities to obtain a measure of intimacy with them erodes individuation in subtle ways. Yet, we are not close to seeing the end of it. If you are left in an identity crisis, without a cogent personality, and founded philosophy, social media is the last place you want to be.

Government Voyeurism

I don't know the badlands this voyeur agreement would lead to, but I will watch it with great interest. Until then, we move.

The highest form of voyeurism is the government spying on its citizens to know all and implement totalitarian policies. Government surveillance is a common theme in dystopian fiction. You may wonder why or you can simply agree that it is a form of exercising power to get pleasure.

Voyeurism gets worse when unchecked. Check it in yourself now.

My little proposition: watch what you put on the internet. The internet never forgets.

Till tomorrow when I bring you Three Ideas and Actions.

Yours,

Jegdy.