A dialog with a friend

I am in the process of reading Anathem by NeaI Stephenson recently so I have been itchin' for a socratic dialog. I got one in a long conversation the other day with a friend on my facebook profile.  The topic was radical transparency.  I really enjoy thinking things through this way and I wish there were more opportunities.

 Steve Wright I do not believe that there are situations where information should be withheld. "Should" is the critical word. via Twitter - 11:45am

 Jeannie Pettigrew Whelan at 2:49pm December 30

Hmm. I don't think I believe you.

 Steve Wright at 5:12pm December 30

Really? Why?

 Jeannie Pettigrew Whelan at 9:34pm December 30

Well, I can think of several scenarios when information should be withheld...in order to preserve peace and balance. Maybe it's best to withold, but not make a big deal out of it.

Are you saying you are in favor of transparency?

 Steve Wright at 8:28am December 31

I am definitely in favor of transparency. We have earned the world we are in today by assuming the privilege of withholding information. The assumption that I can create peace and balance by choose what information to withhold is mostly hubris. We can't have balance with transparency. Additionally, the conceit that allows us to withhold information actually stunts our development. We can advance as a world only if we provide the information that will catalyze new insight.

 Jeannie Pettigrew Whelan at 10:04am December 31

Can you/do you apply this in your personal life as well? I have some specific examples in mind that are too personal to post here..If I were to divulge information that I know that others have been "shielded" from, it would cause pain, disappointment, sorrow. And it would all be for "transparency." So what?

 Steve Wright at 11:00am December 31

Categorically? Nope. I definitely err on the side of transparency. However, juxtaposing transparency (in quotation marks) with sorrow and pain does not neuter transparency. With transparency we would not be at war with Iraq. With transparency our economy would not have been buoyed by imaginary value. I almost never lie. It is a central tenant of my life. It is often awkward, difficult, painful and to the extent that sorrow is involved, it is not the disclosure of information that is to be blamed. It is the world and its actors that cause sorrow. In those exceptional moments when we decide that withholding information is equal to protecting those that do not know, in those situations it is likely that we can trace time back to moments where greater transparency was clearly warranted. Shielding others from information is a statement of power and privilege. As a parent I accept that responsibility for my children.

 Jeannie Pettigrew Whelan at 11:28am December 31

I think that how we came to be at war in Iraq is more than simply a withholding of information. The powers that be did more than that and it is much too complex to boil down to had there been transparency, these things would not have happened.

Yes, withholding information as an act of love is morally acceptable, but witholding information to create personal gain and for power is reprehensible, disgusting and is how we find ourself with this disasterous state.

Let's hope that those in power use transparency and the witholding of information with loving intentions.

 Steve Wright at 11:40am December 31

Jeannie, I never want those in power to claim love as a reason for withholding information from me. Love is far too sacred. I believe that radical transparency would have kept us out of Iraq. There case was built on lies. Remove the lies and you remove the war. That does not remove the complexity of the Bush administrations immorality and incompetence, but it does keep us out of the war that we are experiencing today.

I definitely agree that with more love we can hope for greater peace; however, I believe that both peace and love require (include?) radical transparency.

I just wrote a blog post about this: http://www.conches.org

And a HUGE thank you for "talking" this through with me!

 Jeannie Pettigrew Whelan at 1:02pm December 31

And a huge thank you to you as well, Steve. I appreciate the thoughts and the dialogue. I still disagree that withholding information with love is always morally wrong (I guess you don't either since you apply it in parenting). And I don't think that transparency in the current administration would have kept us out of war.

Lies are the opposite of transparency and they are the foundation of the war in Iraq and much of the economic crisis.

As far as love goes, yes, it is sacred, but it is also organic and must be applied to the decisions we make in all areas of our life.

I look forward to reading your blog about radical transparency. And, btw, I am NOT in favor of censorship. Censorship is also a lie...I don't believe in lying either and I don't lie as a rule. Censorship and withholding info are very different from eachother...But perhaps I will learn more fromt he blog.
Cheers and here's to whatever works to get things back on track in 2009!

 Jeannie Pettigrew Whelan at 1:12pm December 31

If we all live in a different reality with different truths, your radical transparency is not necessarily mine. I am not sure what radical transparency would be if everyone agreed to commit to it. Is it just an idea, like an Escher drawing or could it be put into practice?
I like the blog and the Pinter quotes. Thank you!

 Jeannie Pettigrew Whelan at 1:13pm December 31

oops, did I say censorship and witholding info are very different from eachother!? Ooops, scratch that!

 Steve Wright at 1:21pm December 31

I see radical transparency as very similar to openness. As I said in my blog. I don't believe in absolute truth but I also don't believe in relative truth or the beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder paradigm. My hippie self understands all life as connected, as one. If I have access to your experiences and your perspective I am more whole. Relative truth or the idea that we each live in a different reality and under different truths runs directly counter to this. Relative truth means that I can never know anyone, or to a lesser extent, anything. We collectively are the human condition. Our truths and reality are ever changing but they are collective, shared.