Are we becoming naked apes.

Seems that employers in the west are suspicious of appointing anyone who does not have a Facebook page. TOI, 26 May. Apparently, mass murderers like Anders Breivik of Norway and Aurora theatre killer James Holmes did not have any Facebook account. It is as if not exposing your private being for anyone to read means that you have something to hide. But, apart from language, an opposable thumb and an upright posture, the need for privacy is what distinguishes us from animals. We spend our entire lives surrounded by walls, windows which can be closed and doors which can be locked to enclose a space which no one may share without invitation. We are born inside walls, usually in a hospital, live in a house or apartment surrounded by walls and and have an address which is unique so that our post can reach us from anywhere in the world. Even inside our enclosed space we have divisions. The bathroom is for personal use, the bedroom maybe shared with wife or husband and children while the drawing room is for guests who have been allowed in. If anyone enters without permission we would call the police. Yet, more and more people are exposing themselves to public scrutiny without any inhibition. There are interviews on TV where people describe the most intimate details of their lives without embarrassment. Kiss and tell books seek to make money from sordid details of sexual affairs. Deliberate wardrobe malfunctions in an age of digital cameras expose body parts for anyone to salivate over. Shyness, reserve and dignity have become forgotten  words. Perhaps it is a reaction to increased scrutiny by government agencies and marketing companies. In western countries there are CCTV cameras everywhere, their legitimacy supported by criminal or terrorist attacks. Pictures of the Tsarnaev brothers who carried out the bombings at the Boston marathon were seen all over the world and police in Paris had pictures of the man who stabbed a soldier in the metro station almost immediately. Stores have CCTV cameras to prevent shoplifting. We have become so used to being spied on that we go about our business like monkeys in a zoo. Government agencies have powers to monitor our phone calls and internet activities in the name of security. Banks cooperate to exchange borrowing behavior of customers so that all our transactions maybe easily traced. Internet companies such as Google and, yes, Facebook build up profiles of every user which they sell to marketing companies for targeted sales. It is as if like animals we are living and performing our most intimate functions for anyone to see. Perhaps we will regress to apes.