In most situations where people are currently recorded constantly, the recording doesn't seem to produce social awkwardness. Nearly every urban public or semi-public space is this way; one may argue that cities are pressure cookers, but it's not clear to me that the reason is ubiquitous recording.
In any case, as the tech to record becomes ever smaller and less obtrusive, there will ultimately be no way to know whether you are being recorded digitally. Therefore society and people's reactions will adjust.
Yes but there is a key difference between constant recording being spread across a disconnected sprawl that is only accessible to a police office willing to drop by the local 711... And a recorded stream made by a person around you who is able to quickly review and forever archive the content.
I think in the end it will become quite taboo to operate a recording device with your friends all the time. Maybe it will become okay to turn it on during a jog through the city or a trip to the fair, but having your recording device turned on while enjoying a glass of wine with me on my back porch will be a no-no. Having it own while at the gym? No. Client meeting or anything work related which could contain company "secrets"? No. Maybe I'm wrong and there will be a cultural shift in which we all just submit ourselves to this sort of social survalience, but I find it hard to imagine it happening in any sphere more interesting than a family trip to the Apple Store.
There is no way that a first date and the potential trip back to my place has any room for a recording, it's just not a psychological and social fit.
The thing is, you're already recording those things, just in low fidelity and with poor searchability. If the tech were coming from the other direction, as "improved memory" and the ability to download memories to external storage, how would that change your view on tabooing?
I think you are making a weak argument that creating concrete audio/video recordings has any similarity to the memory of one's mind. There is such a massive ocean of difference between the filters of perception and distortion in memory recollection and video recordings, I think you are making the brain out to be something it isn't.
Nonetheless, this is an interesting debate. Reminds me of an episode of Black Mirror. Check that out for sure, it basically illustrates what you are saying. I found the segment in which before boarding an airplane passengers were required to allow the security to review their memory quite disturbing. Extrapolate that invasion of privacy in every other direction. Having whatever cloud or personal drive you record to be potentially hackable or open for evidence in the courts... It's just some dystopian death of privacy territory that I can't ever seeing the public embracing. Then again, maybe they will and if they do I'll be moving myself to whatever state our country is willing to stand up for privacy and ban such devices.
The basis of my position is the historical record that the most important ideas and movements towards advancements in human rights have often started out as illegal, unpopular and challenges to the status quo. The idea that we can stop crime by recording everything is an illusion and will only serve to suppress advancements which defy the current rule of law.
I think you may be arguing against points I'm not making; my argument has nothing to do with stopping crime, but is about my desire for perfect recall of everything that ever happens to me. I think we'll get closer and closer to that, but just audio and video of every waking moment would be a huge jump toward it.
I've seen Black Mirror, and liked it for the most part. I don't remember that particular scene, though. Maybe it's time for a rewatch. :)
Right on, I hear ya. My fears lie with the implications of having these recordings exist. I think that they will quickly become more than just a keepsake as soon as the police decide they can use them to solve crimes. I think withholding your recordings from any investigation which could be aided with them will become a crime in itself and yeah... I just have real worries about the state of affairs regarding surveillance. I'm a bit of a kook about that stuff though.
In any case, as the tech to record becomes ever smaller and less obtrusive, there will ultimately be no way to know whether you are being recorded digitally. Therefore society and people's reactions will adjust.