Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

'Big Brother' Eyes Make Us Act More Honestly

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the to-say-nothing-of-big-brother's-fists dept.

dylanduck quotes a NewScientist.com article that says "We all know the scene: the coffee room with the 'honesty box' where you pay for your drinks — or not, because no one is watching. But researchers have discovered that merely a picture of watching eyes trebled the amount of money paid." That's a pretty deep-rooted fear of getting caught, which could be useful for crime prevention perhaps. But whose eyes?"

2 of 399 comments (clear)

  1. If it's the woman's change room, by Trigun · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    then you can use mine.

  2. Re:Points out some of the negative aspects of priv by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    I believe that privacy is a prerequisite to freedom. Your goldfish bowl society would indeed be a tyranny - of the majority. A free society is only sustainable with dissent. Without deviation from the majority rule, there is no way to adapt to new challenges. Dissent needs a time of protection until has grown strong enough that it can fend for itself.

    What happened to a concept called "conscience"? That strong urge to refrain from doing something because it feels wrong. You know that feeling, or don't you? That was an effective way of maintaining a level of cooperativeness. It made people honest without surveillance, but at the same time it was non-uniform enough to allow dissent to grow when necessary.