Confusation

Sorry, about the last 2 posts. I was trying to prove a point about facebook.

In this age of increasing privacy rights and paranoia about data, people need to really curb their exposure and earn their privacy. Google wants access to our medical records. NYC posts our mortgages online with a copy of our signature (seriously, go onto the ACRIS system). And, Facebook has set up a system whereby we can keep our friends informed of new developments in our lives (and I mean every minor detail). Heck, as mentioned before, some dude advertised his Social Security number to the whole world in order to prove a failed point about privacy.

None of these things are inherently bad (except that last one, man, he is in for one big lawsuit), but we must impose on ourselves a degree of restraint and not abuse our newfound positions of attention.

In a world of microcelebrity, where individuals have access to an inflated pulpit, the potential for abuse is large. Globalization and the internet are providing increased access to a greater amount of information than ever before; everyone has access to all information. This has created a degree of homogenization, since with access to all information, there is less unique information. Once again, this is not a bad development. This means we have to try all the harder to create or to find something new and original, with more emphasis on the creation part.

In property law, one learns first about acquisition by 'find.' In the beginning, there was so much for Earth's citizens that the focus of the law was almost exclusively on claiming the unclaimed. One next learns about acquisition by creation; one owns what he has created. This field is the future. I'm not saying that all that can be discovered has been discovered. What I am saying is that we must be challenged to find and create something new and we must be aware of the increasing difficulty of such an endeavor for the 'new.' We should not be risk averse to such a search, but we must be risk aware.