Once upon a time, people had genies in bottles. I have a disembodied voice in a computer. Her name is Siri. And all I have to do to get her services is to say the magic words, “Hey, Siri!”

            Immediately, she responds, “How can I help you?”

            But it occurred to me the other day that Siri can only respond by listening for my voice 24 hours a day. That’s very flattering. It’s also a little disquieting. Because Siri is connected to the internet. Which means that the corporate data bank that Siri is connected to can also listen to all my conversations if they choose to.

            My eavesdropping friend Siri seems a little dated, compared to Google Echo. It conceals someone called Alexa, who will not only provide information, but also turn on your coffee maker, adjust your thermostat, turn lights on and off, start your car, and play your favourite music.

            But like Siri, Alexa is always on.

Universal surveillance

            A recent issue of National Geographic magazine looked at how much we are constantly being looked at. In parts of London, Houston, and Singapore, you are never off a closed-circuit TV screen. Never. Unless you’re inside a toilet booth. And possibly not even there. Cameras themselves can now be so small as to be little more than a blob on a wall, a screw in a hinge, a bump on a log.

            And then there’s overhead surveillance. A few years ago, the U.S. had the most satellites in space – about 170. According to National Geographic again, there are now over 1,700. At least 200 of them were sent aloft by a single corporation, Planet Inc.

            Planet discovered that a cellphone camera, adapted, could take perfectly usable pictures of earth from space. They can now document changes on the earth’s surface – from logging in the Amazon jungles to migrations of Rohinga refugees in Myanmar – on a daily basis; 1.3 million images a day.

            Every single day.

            If you park overnight in front of your girlfriend’s house, a Planet camera knows it.

            If you build a shed in your back yard without a permit, a Planet camera knows it.

            And that’s saying nothing about 2.5 million drones in the U.S. alone. Plus dash cams, body cams, and six billion cellphones worldwide.

            Should you be concerned?

            Surveillance cameras in London were introduced when members of the Irish Republican Army were planting bombs, long before ISIS sympathizers existed. They were sold on the argument that if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.

            Trust us. We’re only after the bad guys. You know, the ones who wear black hats to identify themselves.

Good, bad, or both

            And whether you worry or not turns mostly on your theology. You didn’t think you had a theology? Theology belongs to priests and professors, not to ordinary people?

            This has nothing to do with how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. The fundamental question is, do you believe humans are essentially good? Or essentially bad?

            If they’re essentially good, you’re not worried about all this surveillance. The people who have all that information about you won’t abuse it.

            If humans are essentially bad, you’re afraid they can – and will – use the information they gather about you for their own benefit. They’ll send advertising based on your known preferences. They’ll tailor the news you receive to your prejudices. They’ll manipulate your emotions to get your vote. They’ll look for something, anything, that you don’t want your friends to know, and blackmail you.

            Maybe they’re already doing some of those things.

            This theological debate has been going on for at least 15 centuries. Augustine of Hippo, around 400 A.D., argued that humans are essentially sinful. They can’t help being bad, because their earliest ancestors did something bad, and passed that characteristic down genetically.

            Augustine’s rival, Pelagius, argued the opposite. Humans are essentially good. They are not helpless against evil; they can overcome their temptations and shortcomings.

            Augustine won. The Catholic church enshrined his argument in the Doctrine of Original Sin.

            But was he right? Your reaction to universal surveillance tells which side you support.

            Personally, I believe humans are essentially good. But I don’t believe it strongly enough to trust Siri. I learned how to turn her off.

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Copyright © 2017 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups encouraged; links from other blogs welcomed; all other rights reserved.

            To send comments, to subscribe, or to unsubscribe, write jimt@quixotic.ca

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YOUR TURN

The first letter about last week’s column came from Judy Lang: “You need to get your facts straight regarding scoring of figure skating. Artistry is only one component of this very physical, very demanding event that you called a “sport” (your quotes). Scoring has made huge advancements since the days of holding up cards. Elements are ranked according to difficulty, judges can go to slow motion reviews of any element before submitting their marks. A skater who skates a clean program and therefore looks prettier but has easier elements than a skater who has a more difficult program but doesn’t skate “clean” will get lower marks.  It isn’t all about the artistry. Also, there ARE required elements in ice dance. That comment really showed how uninformed you are.

            “I hope you get a well-deserved bashing on this column.”

The next letter took the opposite view. From Brian Sutch, “I could not agree more. They should also get rid of horse jumping, or start awarding the medals to the horses… The same can be said for any sport that relies mainly on equipment with bob-sled racing the first one to be deleted. If they have bob-sled racing why not auto-racing?”

Hanny Kooyman disagreed with my basic premise: “That’s the problem in today’s world, Jim.  That everything has to be measured, or it won’t count.  This time also artistry counts!”

Tom Watson came out on my side: “A gold medal to you for having the courage to write this column, popular or not!

            “I agree with you on two points. The first is that the Olympics have become more expensive than most cities can afford. I heard that the stadium in Pyeongchang (a city of only 44,000 people) cost $100 million to construct, will be used four times during the Olympic and Paralympic games and then will be torn down -- a mere $25 million per usage -- but it's apparently cheaper than to maintain it over the years. Remember the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, built to host the games in 1967? It took 30 years to pay it off and, in total, cost $1.5 billion.

            “The second point upon which I agree is removing events that cannot be measured objectively. Figure skating is a classic example of a competition judged by subjectivity. It often ‘appears’ that a favourite going into a competition is given higher marks for moves than other contenders...but is that a valid assessment on my part, or am I also too subjective?”

Denis Lohman confirmed Tom’s suspicions: “I became disenchanted several Olympiads ago when one of the commentators let it be known that the judges in whatever ‘sport’ it was would assign fewer points for early competitors in anticipation of better performances by more highly regarded competitors later.”

Laurna Tallman agreed with Judy Lang: “From glimpses backstage with Virtue and Moir on YouTube, I can see that they add what you call ‘style’ to their routines with more refined athletic skills than you are accustomed to measuring. People with the eyes to see the athleticism required are comfortable rating them. Even you can see the results, whether or not you know how to measure it. Many of those finishing touches are matters of athletic timing, studied knowledge of the traditional or cultural movements of the body, and the ability to include them in their routines when others are barely able to place the large muscle motion needed for points. You could probably measure stylistic items by counting the wrist, finger, and elbow movements and glances, facial expression changes, and expressive shoulder movements per second with a freeze-frame on your viewer. These ‘stylists’ are more fully in consciously controlled motion than most other skaters. Watching them work with their coaches showed me how carefully choreographed the gestures and ‘looks’ are that viewers read as ‘chemistry.’ It's all physics! Yet, their performance makes people think about how much more thoughtful their own expressions of love could be. They are highly skilled performers who have worked on every second and every gesture of their program. You are getting the overall impression without understanding how meticulously and with what effort of athleticism their skills were achieved.”

Old friend Ray Shaver wrote, “I take a broader viewpoint on the content of competition.  I believe that the Olympics, as currently structured, enables human beings to continually raise the levels of personal endurance and mind and body excellence of performance in athletic sports of many kinds… The training to produce an excellent figure skater, synchronized swimmer, half-pipe snow boarder, aerial skier, etc., is just as arduous and time consuming as a speed skater, runner, cross country skier, etc.  Consider the levels of current accomplishment of figure skaters today with Sonja Henie, Barbara Ann Scott, etc., and one realizes how Olympic competition has pushed the levels of mind and body to excel in this sport.  I believe that is an important objective. The Olympics have benefitted by extending the competition and interest to sports other than only those that can be measured by tape, clock, etc.”

James Russell took both sides: “True, judgements about artistry are often judgements about class, culture and tradition as much as about measureable performance.  (For a wonderful reminder, see the film ‘I, Tonya’.)   But even in ‘artistic’ events, there are measures of technical performance that actually matter.  And aren’t the more ‘measureable’ games as much about complex performance as about anything else?  The point of the Olympics is to celebrate humanity at its best.  (And, originally, to celebrate Zeus.)”

Robert Caughell had a different concern: “There is a finite amount of time/places for all of the events. If new events are added, which events have to be eliminated? Should the Olympics be extended to 3 weeks in length?”

Bob Rollwagen liked the recent Olympics: “Like many aspects of 21st century life, we try to fit in today’s reality to terms set in a different age. Is golf a sport? Should wrestlers or boxers fight until one is disabled? Should we allow sports that require space suits to safely compete? There is probably more bad judgement by referees in a hockey game than in the figure skating events. We understand bad referees; we do not understand the technical issues of a figure skating jump.

            “At the first Olympics, I assume they used the tools they had available to judge the sports they understood. The Korean Winter Olympic events have been very entertaining and competitive.”

I’ll give the final word on Olympic competition to Nan Erbaugh: “When artistry enters the picture, why can't we just enjoy it and not have to pick one performance over another to ‘win’?”

Gloria Jorgenson had a further comment about male-oriented language: “Why have university degrees been referred to as ‘masters’ and becoming accomplished at anything referred to as ‘mastering’ it? Were only males considered capable of this?”

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TECHNICAL STUFF

If you want to comment on something, write me at jimt@quixotic.ca. Or just hit the ‘Reply’ button.

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            My webpage is running again -- thanks to Wayne Irwin and ChurchWeb Canada. You can now access current columns and five years of archives at http://quixotic.ca

            I write a second column each Wednesday, called Soft Edges, which deals somewhat more gently with issues of life and faith. To sign up for Soft Edges, write to me directly at the address above, or send a blank e-mail to softedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca

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PROMOTION STUFF…

To use the links in this section, you’ll have to insert the necessary symbols.

            Ralph Milton ’s latest project is called “Sing Hallelujah” -- the world’s first video hymnal. It consists of 100 popular hymns, both new and old, on five DVDs that can be played using a standard DVD player and TV screen, for use in congregations who lack skilled musicians to play piano or organ. More details at wwwDOTsinghallelujahDOTca

            Ralph’s HymnSight webpage is still up, http://wwwDOThymnsightDOTca, with a vast gallery of photos you can use to enhance the appearance of the visual images you project for liturgical use (prayers, responses, hymn verses, etc.)

            Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. <http://wwwDOTchurchwebcanadaDOTca>

            I recommend Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, wwwDOTtraditionaliconoclastDOTcom

            Alva Wood’s satiric stories about incompetent bureaucrats and prejudiced attitudes in a small town -- not particularly religious, but fun; alvawoodATgmailDOTcom to get onto her mailing list.

            Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” -- ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatsoATgmailDOTcom or twatsonATsentexDOTnet