When Durf and I discovered we couldn't have a civil conversation about my "secrets" post, we thought we should take it to the internet. (Slight exaggeration.)
Here's how I perceive the issue. Once again setting aside discussions about secrets that, if kept, would lead to serious harm -- like death or dismemberment -- I pose this dilemma.
Your great grandmother killed her brother. You learn this from your grandmother, who elicited a promise from you that you would never tell. Your grandmother, great grandmother (and her brother, of course) are long dead. You have kept the secret lo these many years, but now you realize you aren't going to live forever. So you consider the pros and cons of revealing the secret.
Perceived disadvantages (to me...assuming I would be the revealer):
1. If anyone knows I made a promise not to tell, they might think I cannot be trusted with their secrets, or anything else, for that matter.
2. Anyone still living who might have had a relationship with my great grandmother might think less of her. They might judge her without all the facts.
3. A person described in item 2, above, might have a psychotic breakdown. Because he or she was unaware of this big event in great grandmother's life, said person might distrust all of his or her perceptions of the world and...as I said...have a psychotic breakdown.
Perceived advantages:
1. This is my family history, with valuable lessons to be learned about my people and how they (we) relate to each other and the world.
2. This is regular history, which could tell us about the times, the culture, the people.
3. The affected people are dead. Copyrights expire. The very fact that I am supposed to keep the information a secret is interesting.
4. Just because I tell a dead person's secret does not mean I can't keep a live person's secret.
5. Maybe Terry Gross will invite me to be on Fresh Air.
Ok, folks, feel free to weigh in. Do you tell?
This is heavy shite. Are we supposed to, like, think?
ReplyDeleteIf you believe that dead is dead then there are no secrets to keep. Furthermore; if someone gave you their secret, then they wanted to share it...and in some ways it is now your responsibility to ensure that secret is not forgotten.
ReplyDeleteSeatec astronomy. That's an anagram from the movie "Sneakers", related to the current topic. It should be the Wikileaks or OpenLeaks slogan.
ReplyDeleteDurf, if you really have no secrets, why did you once upon a time use PCG? Does privacy from Big Brother not count as secrecy?
Damned spell checker, or ordinary brain glitch, I don't know which. I meant PGP, not PCG.
ReplyDeleteCarl, there are a couple of answers to your question. One, not having secrets now does not mean I've never had secrets. Two, the absence of secrecy does not imply the absence of discretion.
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm. Secrets vs discretion? There's a distinction?
ReplyDeleteInteresting comment by anonymous. Guess we'll have to wait until he/she is dead to find out who it is!
ReplyDeletethis all going over my head.
ReplyDeleteOnly reveal secrets when you're drunk enough to make them entertaining.
ReplyDelete