You have zero privacy. Get over it!

Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, stated in 1999: "You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it." (http://www.pcworld.com/article/16331/private_lives_not_ours.html)

This is a challenging statement which raises a challenging issue. That is, language is inherently context dependent. Of course it isn't entirely dependent upon the context, but language is based on shared meanings. The less we share (e.g., common vocabulary or common culture), the more likely misunderstandings will be.

And the fact that what we say is so readily available to so many (whether it be statements on Facebook or a blog like this or an email that gets forwarded or a text that gets subpoenaed or (in my case) a sermon recorded online) raises great challenges. First, will people outside of the original context understand what I meant? And second (my focus here), will what I said create difficulty because it is available outside of the context in which I said it?

The claim I am making is that, given the connected world in which we live, whenever I speak or write, I must be conscious that my words can very easily be repeated in different contexts with different constraints. So a simple example is this: when I criticize others, it is as though I should imagine them hearing what I'm saying as I say it.

But then again, I think that this strategy is what a previous culture's perspective of honor included. I shouldn't criticize those who are not available to defend themselves. Of course offering constructive critique can be appropriate, as long as we understand the important difference between a constructive critique and criticism.

So for a person of old fashioned honor, perhaps things haven't changed as much as I originally thought. I should always stand ready to explain my words, particularly before those who would potentially be hurt or offended by them.

I should also be very careful to defend those situations where I am dependent upon the honor of the people who hear he to defend the appropriate privacy which at times still applies.

So when you speak or write, be careful about your words. They have significant consequences. It was always true. Now we are just more readily aware of it.