Sunday, April 17, 2016

Violation of Privacy

There's definitely something really cool about being able to read someone's mind - who wouldn't want to have this power like Saleem? But thoughts are better left unread. All someone truly has to himself/herself is his/her thoughts - what goes on in our heads cannot be accessed by anyone else unless we put it on paper or we express what we're thinking out loud. Mind reading violates our privacy. I though Saleem abused his powers when he used them to find out what his crush, Evie Burns, was thinking in order to see what he had to do to get her to like him. It is so invasive and unfair. Not to mention, a mind is a terrible thing to read. As much as I would like the ability to read minds and find out what people honestly think about, I might end up regretting it... There are a lot of people out there who have disturbing thoughts, to know the truth about what people think of me, to look inside someone's thoughts and experience their guilty pasts, etc... it is all very uncomfortable to think about.

This is irrelevant, but as I read the part about Saleem not being able to read Shiva's mind, I thought about Edward not being able to read Bella's mind in Twilight lolol

7 comments:

Unknown said...

I've always wanted to read someone's mind. I know this is weird, but I have always wanted to know what teachers think of me. I sit through class wondering what teachers think about during class and how they look at the kids they are teaching. I would also like to know what other people think of me the second they meet me. A lot of people have told me that I have a resting b**ch face and I am hard to approach, but when they talk to me they realize it's just my face. I would not want to know personal details about others, that would cause way too much stress for me. I guess it is kind of selfish for me to only want to know what people think of me but ehhh that's okay.

Sri Korrapati said...

I 100% agree!

Unknown said...

Your notion that being able to read someone's mind as something that wouldn't be all that desirable reveals the power of Saleem. Remember that as each midnight Jordan was born close to midnight he had a more powerful power. As Celine was born exactly midnight he is known as the most powerful of the midnights children. Is important to remember that with power comes responsibility and the ability to read one's mind does require a great deal of responsibility, self control, and maturity. That's the scary thing about reading minds, it would take a great amount of the three attributes above to not allow your power to drive you insane

Unknown said...

I am definitely with Abbey on this one. While I agree with you, Ashley, that I have always wanted to know what others think about me, I think I would most likely end up regretting being able to read peoples minds in the long run. I feel like if I could read other peoples minds, I may become too concerned with what other people think of me, and that is pretty unhealthy. I actually read something today that said on average 10% of people you meet will not like you. You can't please everyone, and I fear that if i could read other peoples minds I would most likely drive myself crazy trying. I have always admired a quote that hangs in SeƱora Stelly's room by Dr. Suess that says, "Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."

Cheyenne Dwyer said...

What I have never really understood is how deep a mind reader could truly go- like it makes sense if they could just hear our inner voice when we talk to ourselves, but to see memories and stuff too? Isn't that just stealing someone's consciousness? Are we not a collection of our experiences? Saleem's power is definitely extremely powerful, I found it quite aggravating that he never used it to truly make a difference of any kind. I find it strange that he wouldn't be overcome with the want to experiment more with his abilities. I would definitely wanna read minds though.

Cheyenne Dwyer said...

On the topic of powers, the one thing I thought a lot about is the part where Saleem explains how the powers are more powerful the closer they were born to midnight, but I feel like those powers are super misordered. Saleem doesn't really use his for anything good, Pavarti literally had the power of Magic... She can do like anything. That one guy can travel through time???? And that's just a whatever power? In my opinion he is the most powerful of all, he could screw up the entire universe.... Another thing I dislike is that we don't really get to see the extent of shivas powers. Like powerful knees? Maybe he killed some prostitutes? I could do that as well if I really wanted to.... Idk

Unknown said...

I think Saleem definitely should've learned his lesson when he invaded Evie's thoughts. He saw her with the knife. (We never really do find out what that's all about--it could be the old woman back home or maybe not). Anyway, after the whole incident with Evie, Saleem decides to go and read Shiva's mind. He definitely should not have done this, but we can probably attribute his actions to childishness. I do completely agree that this is an invasion of privacy though. I appreciate that Saleem uses his powers for a presumably good cause (meeting with the midnight's children), but regardless, I still definitely wouldn't want someone reading my mind.