Summary prisoners of psychogeography, Esercizi di Lingua Inglese

Scarica Summary prisoners of psychogeography e più Esercizi in PDF di Lingua Inglese solo su Docsity! SUMMARY: Big Brother is watching us. In the present article, published in The New York Times Magazine in September 2016, the author James Gleick addresses the issue of privacy as it is considered in the 21st century. The author starts by giving a definition of privacy. It is a modern concept that claims the right to be left alone and to feel safe and secure in one’s home. Privacy is the result of a civilised society whose members are very concerned about this primitive but essential right. Furthermore, it implies an idea of freedom that human beings of the 21st century continuously chase. Next, the author outlines a contradictory point of view on privacy. According to James Gleick, men want to secure their right to be let alone as long as it regards the life of normal and ordinary people. On the contrary, whenever it is about the privacy of any famous or well-known person, there is a general belief that this pretension cannot be not valid anymore. Indeed, the modern world is constantly in pursuit of gossip, and for this same reason, popular people are expected to share every detail of their lives and are not allowed to demand privacy. Lastly, the author reflects on two different conjugations of the construct at issue. He draws a distinction between passive privacy and aggressive privacy. The former can be associated with the definition of privacy which has been stated above; whereas the latter entails the willingness of people to arrogate for themselves the right to say everything they think of without control. James Gleick emphasises that aggressive privacy has become a serious problem because people create false online identities in order to comment or express their thoughts in complete freedom but without being judged or reproached. The author concludes by raising a question to his readers. He suggests that people should reflect on whether the possibility of living privately and freely in the technological and interconnected 21 st century might still be a plausible option.