"Naysmith slipped a mantle over his tunic and a conventional half-mask over his face, the latter less from politeness than as a disguise." (V, p. 51)
"No one spoke to anyone else, the custom of privacy was too ingrained. He was just as glad of that." (p. 53)
"'I can't predict Besser's actions very closely, since in spite of his prominence he uses privacy as a cover-up for relevant psychological data.'" (X, p. 98)
Next comes Jeanne Donner's explanation that the privacy notion originated during the Years of Madness which have also been mentioned several times. A seemingly straightforward story, only the second in the series, constructs an intricate edifice of multiple future historical background details.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I am not much for hanging everything out in public, so I can sympathize with these notions about privacy.
Ad astra! Seab
I suspect masks are going to be strongly discouraged in future. Facial recognition software is too useful.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree. Facial rec software is very useful for police forces, security services, and Intelligence agencies.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: you should see how the Chinese use it. It's around every corner, and you go through it four times at every airport.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I can too easily see a brutal, tyrannical regime like the Chinese Maoists making gleeful use of facial recognition software.
I'll bet the Chinese secret police has a file on you!
Ad astra! Sean
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