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As the Roman poet Horace put it, "Nothing is beautiful from every point of view." Believe me, outraged fellow-citizens, this applies to you, too. And nothing drains the beauty more effectively than one of these airport scanners.
So please, just emply your pockets, raise your arms, and shut up already. I've got a plane to catch! Read More
Right to Privacy
When our right to privacy is taken away, the terrists win!
The opposite, actually.
Um, no, when our right to privacy is taken away, government agencies bent on protecting their country by any means necessary including restricting the privacy of innocent citizens win. These machines were put in precisely for the purpose of catching out terrorists. Please use some common sense.
I'm not really sure why you
I'm not really sure why you think that people who don't wish to show their bodies to strangers think they're sexy? I'd rather assume the opposite is true, that people are shy about their bodies if they don't feel comfortable with them. It seems cruel to make fun.
Have you ever studied psychology?
It does say PhD in Psychology
It does say PhD in Psychology in the title. Pretty sure Psychology Today is not letting any ol' Joe blog on their site.
on cruelty...
Didn't mean to be cruel. The point was (and is) that it's just a body. Beautiful or beastly, it doesn't matter. It's an X-ray.
You are an Idiot!
You are an Idiot!
Idiot!
With a capital I, no less! Hope you don't mind if I take that as a compliment.
Better than a physical stripsearch
Well no one likes hearing they aren't attractive, but that picture of the bald, ultra-white body is... discomforting to say the least. Now I'm more bothered by looking quite that unattractive! But then again, with thousands of people passing through a scanner every day, and bodies flashing by, as opposed to being photographed and kept on file for whatever reason, what difference does it make?
I don't like it, but if it gets me onto the plane faster, I think I can deal.
The opposite?
As someone else pointed out, the desire for privacy mostly results from the opposite: the fear that your shortcomings and ugliness will be exposed, not a fear that you will turn people on. It's true that a nose is just a nose, and boogers are natural and common to everyone, but I don't really want a picture of me picking my nose above Times Square.
It matters...
"Didn't mean to be cruel. The point was (and is) that it's just a body. Beautiful or beastly, it doesn't matter. It's an X-ray".
It matters in the sense that one is exposed without his consent!
We all know that stripping
We all know that stripping someone is the quickest and most effective way to humiliate and control others - it's why prisoner abuse so often involves forcing the prisoner to remain mostly or completely naked.
This technology isn't intended as abusive, but you can hardly fail to appreciate that the situation is highly likely to trigger a lot of fear and anger. The point isn't "Am I hot or not?", it's about the emotional vulnerability of being effectively forced into nakedness by a stranger who has authority over you. The only choice is to submit or accept that you will not be allowed to travel.
stripping and torture
You make some interesting points. I'd argue though, that passing through one of these machines, fully clothed, only constitutes being "stripped" in the most technological, science-fiction sense. The power of stripping in humiliation presumably lies is the public nature of it, being exposed before everyone (including those with whom you spend your time). This, on the other hand, amounts to having your bodily outline rendered ghost-like to a bored TSA employee whom you've never seen and likely never will see.
So to me, the outrage over "invasion of privacy" makes little sense. What privacy? What's the secret? You've got a body? No surprise there.
It reminds me of the ancient Chinese (and Victorian) practice of having a woman describe her pains to a doctor via a doll, in order to preserve her "privacy." In these cases, the price for this privacy could be very high, indeed.
RATIONAL , however....
.....to a bored TSA employee whom you've never seen and likely never will see....
Obviously your position is simply from a RATIONAL perspective...disregarding the EMOTIONAL aspects as unwarranted!
Does it "make little sense" that people have emotional reactions such as anxiety over a situation they have no control?...How about a woman, for example, who is still struggling with her removed breast as a result of cancer? or any other bodily diformities ..etc?
Rational vs. Emotional
Yes, you've understood my perspective. I think that in matters of common security, an individual's emotional concerns aren't particularly important. For example, obese people who think they should have their seat and half of mine, and that anyone who complains is offending their emotional need not to have their obesity mentioned. Sorry, fat guy, but there are objective measures that matter.
If someone's had a mastectomy, why does it matter more that a TSA employee sees that? It is what it is. I'm sorry if that sounds cold, but Americans have a problem with just admitting reality and moving on. Much as I sympathize with a person in that situation, I don't see what it has to do with airport security, or why it means the rest of us should submit to pat-downs so that someone's sensitivities won't be offended.
Rational vs. Emotional
A technocratic thinking!
You Might Just As Well Pray
From what I've read, something over 80% of the time airport security is tested, the banned materials manage to get onboard. It seems to me that any reasonable person who gave it some thought would quickly see the holes in the system. Yet, standing in line, I always hear some ignoramus say it's worth the wait to be safe. What fools these mortals be.
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