In a way, I probably began to learn the "shape" of thought control when I was young and lived among people for whom the question "how is your walk with Jesus?" was not considered impolite or intrusive, and the expectation is that you would respond with a bit of soul-baring.
I learned that I preferred privacy, the privacy of my own thoughts... and later in life when I was attracted to political activism, I learned to steer clear of those who thought nothing of asking "how is your consciousness raising going?" with the expectation of an equally soul-baring response, without recognising the intrusiveness of such a question.
The "shape" of this sense of the increasing social permissiveness of such privacy intrusions - "have you tested?" "are you vaccinated?" (Why are you asking me about a private health matter?) also came to the fore during this pandemonium.
In all cases the "shape" feels the same. As if a group of people have decided that certain privacy intrusions will be treated as universally permissible, that some kinds of thoughts must be subject to group policing.
I don't know if I've phrased this well, but these types of "shapes" that carry over between disparate groups, often at odds with one another as to goals or motivation, is what I notice.
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branchandroot
Re: The Epiphany (A reflection thread on pandemic choices)
Date: 2023-07-22 11:13 am (UTC)I learned that I preferred privacy, the privacy of my own thoughts... and later in life when I was attracted to political activism, I learned to steer clear of those who thought nothing of asking "how is your consciousness raising going?" with the expectation of an equally soul-baring response, without recognising the intrusiveness of such a question.
The "shape" of this sense of the increasing social permissiveness of such privacy intrusions - "have you tested?" "are you vaccinated?" (Why are you asking me about a private health matter?) also came to the fore during this pandemonium.
In all cases the "shape" feels the same. As if a group of people have decided that certain privacy intrusions will be treated as universally permissible, that some kinds of thoughts must be subject to group policing.
I don't know if I've phrased this well, but these types of "shapes" that carry over between disparate groups, often at odds with one another as to goals or motivation, is what I notice.