To The Best Of Our Knowledge The Sum of Our Data
Aug 23, 2025
Susannah Breslin, a journalist and author of "Data Baby," shares insights from her childhood experience in a psychological experiment that shaped her identity. Philosopher Lowry Pressly discusses the evolving concept of privacy in a surveillance-heavy world, questioning whether it remains a privilege or a fundamental need. Carl Öhman highlights ethical dilemmas surrounding data ownership and the fate of our digital legacies after death. Together, they explore the complexities of personal data, identity, and the implications of emerging technologies on privacy and grief.
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Panopticon Preschool Experience
- Susannah Breslin was enrolled at UC Berkeley's Harold E. Jones Child Study Center starting at age four and became part of a 128-child longitudinal experiment.
- She describes hidden observation galleries, one-way mirrors, and long-term follow-ups that shaped her sense of purpose and identity.
Privacy Feels Extinct
- Susannah argues privacy as a concept is eroding and we no longer live in a private world.
- She sees modern child-quantification and public sharing as a large, ongoing experiment with unknown adult effects.
Protect Oblivion, Not Just Secrets
- Lowry Pressly urges us to rethink privacy beyond secrecy toward cultivating oblivion: letting parts of life remain genuinely unknown.
- He recommends protecting modes of unknowing because oblivion supports human flourishing and varied ways of being.
