Ranchocarne

"As a matter of historical analysis, the relationship between secrecy and privacy can be stated in an..."

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:53:00 -0300

“As a matter of historical analysis, the relationship between secrecy and privacy can be stated in an axiom: the defense of privacy follows, and never precedes, the emergence of new technologies for the exposure of secrets. In other words, the case for privacy always comes too late. The horse is out of the barn. The post office has opened your mail. Your photograph is on Facebook. Google already knows that, notwithstanding your demographic, you hate kale. The particular technology matters little; the axiom holds. It’s only a feature, though, of a centuries-long historical transformation: the secularization of mystery. A mystery, in Christian theology, is what God knows and man cannot, and must instead believe. Immortality, in this sense, is a mystery. So is the beginning of life, which is a good illustration of how much that was once mysterious became secret and then became private. Anciently invoked as one of God’s mysteries, the beginning of life was studied, by anatomists, as the “secret of generation.” Finally, citizens, using the language of a constitutional “right to privacy,” defended it against intrusion. Theologically, the beginning of life, the ensoulment of new flesh, remains a mystery. Empirically, uncovering the secret of generation required tools—microscopes, lenses, cameras—that made the creation of life both visible and knowable. Only after it was no longer a mystery, and no longer a secret, only after it was no longer invisible, did it become private. By then, it was too late: contraception was already in the hands of the state.

(…)

Something creepy happened when mystery became secular, secrecy became a technology, and privacy became a right. The inviolability of the self replaced the inscrutability of God. No wonder people got buggy about it.”

- Jill Lepore, The prism

"Realism in art is not like realism elsewhere. In art, realism, too, is an accomplishment of the..."

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 19:35:17 -0300

“Realism in art is not like realism elsewhere. In art, realism, too, is an accomplishment of the imagination. What is imagined is the world as it really is; or the world as it would appear if it were totally visible, or if we were totally able to see it.”

- Leon Wieseltier, Flaking Paint and Blemishes

Anthony Cudahy

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 20:17:44 -0300

Anthony Cudahy

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Mon, 10 Jun 2013 20:15:58 -0300

Atelier Olschinsky

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 20:14:46 -0300

Atelier Olschinsky

"Commentators often attempt to refute the nothing-to-hide argument by pointing to things people want..."

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:17:03 -0300

“Commentators often attempt to refute the nothing-to-hide argument by pointing to things people want to hide. But the problem with the nothing-to-hide argument is the underlying assumption that privacy is about hiding bad things. By accepting this assumption, we concede far too much ground and invite an unproductive discussion about information that people would very likely want to hide. As the computer-security specialist Schneier aptly notes, the nothing-to-hide argument stems from a faulty “premise that privacy is about hiding a wrong.” Surveillance, for example, can inhibit such lawful activities as free speech, free association, and other First Amendment rights essential for democracy. The deeper problem with the nothing-to-hide argument is that it myopically views privacy as a form of secrecy. In contrast, understanding privacy as a plurality of related issues demonstrates that the disclosure of bad things is just one among many difficulties caused by government security measures. To return to my discussion of literary metaphors, the problems are not just Orwellian but Kafkaesque. Government information-gathering programs are problematic even if no information that people want to hide is uncovered. In The Trial, the problem is not inhibited behavior but rather a suffocating powerlessness and vulnerability created by the court system’s use of personal data and its denial to the protagonist of any knowledge of or participation in the process.”

- Daniel J. Solove, Why Privacy Matters Even If You Have “Nothing to Hide”

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Thu, 06 Jun 2013 21:17:13 -0300

[arquivo pessoal]

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:32:18 -0300

[arquivo pessoal]

"Murder in my heart, daily, hourly, incessantly, and you ask if I feel as nasty as ever about..."

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:27:58 -0300

“Murder in my heart, daily, hourly, incessantly, and you ask if I feel as nasty as ever about planetary affairs.”

- J.D. Salinger

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:00:15 -0300

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Fri, 24 May 2013 18:59:20 -0300

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Fri, 24 May 2013 18:59:04 -0300

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:58:14 -0300

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Fri, 24 May 2013 18:57:22 -0300

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Fri, 24 May 2013 18:56:54 -0300

"Deitei na cama ao seu lado, estiquei meu braço e comparei a cor de nossa pele. Não eram iguais. A..."

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:45:23 -0300

“Deitei na cama ao seu lado, estiquei meu braço e comparei a cor de nossa pele. Não eram iguais. A dele ficava cada vez mais branca, irrigada por afluentes azuis, muito finos. A minha permanecia escura e opaca, e não era possível ver através dela nenhum vestígio de sangue correndo. Quase negra. Não éramos nem ao menos parecidos. A pele de uma mariposa fulva. Comparei nossos fios de cabelo, os dele branquíssimos, os meus vermelhos, grossos e enrolados como os de um inseto noturno arruivado. Muito diferentes. Sobre o criado-mudo ao lado da cama havia uma xícara de chá pela metade. Observei o leve tremor na superfície do líquido, uma vibração quase imperceptível causada pelos ônibus e carros que passavam lá embaixo, e não pela manada de bisontes se lançando ao vazio do abismo no final da rua, suicidando-se no despenhadeiro, afogando-se no meio do Atlântico como os lemingues da Noruega. E percebi que aquele movimento mínimo no líquido no fundo da xícara em cujo reflexo nossa casa tremia podia ser o fim da Altântida, o fim do meu mundo. A extinção dele.”

- Joca Reiners Terron, A tristeza extraordinária do leopardo-das-neves

[arquivo pessoal]

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:53:42 -0300

[arquivo pessoal]

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Sat, 18 May 2013 10:54:44 -0300

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Sat, 18 May 2013 10:51:18 -0300

"As dualidades de base, que vencem essa dispersão indiferenciada da natureza e do social..."

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:48:54 -0300

“As dualidades de base, que vencem essa dispersão indiferenciada da natureza e do social (puro/impuro, arcaico/moderno, local/universal, urbano/rural etc.), parecem ter perdido completamente o sentido hoje. Não tanto como os pós-modernistas supunham – o conge-lamento do real em paródia e imagem –, mas de uma forma mais profunda e perversa, de amálgama literal, físico (lixo) e comportamental (filas, discurso) entre esses opostos, a ponto de torná-los indiferenciados. A vida social, assim, não destruiu propriamente o aroma, mas apaziguou-o num todo, como um buraco negro que tudo prendeu e de onde nada retorna – nem verbo, nem luz. Podemos transitar entre extremos e matizes, tonalidades e catalogações as mais diversas, mas não escapar de uma espécie de menu que já supunha nossa movimentação. Viajar é nunca sair desse todo. Esse amálgama e esse todo é que cabe à cultura contemporânea desfazer – através de susto, espanto, curto-circuito.”

- Nuno Ramos, O turista infeliz