After all said and done, perhaps, we can find a place in our hearts to accept the futility of our efforts to be completely transparent. This is an invitation for us to reflect on our ability to remain concealed from the attentive gaze of others, which inadvertently militates against our continuous quest for transparency.
The devil is usually in the details. We all have our secrets – that part of us only known to us. No matter how much we strive to be transparent, it continually eludes us. Sometimes, but not always, this secret part of us harbours and entertains our excesses and vices – those things we enjoy, which may not necessarily conform to societal norms and expectations. They exist. They are real. We know they are. We enjoy them.
Could it be the reason for considering clothing as a basic human need? Is clothing a natural or socially constructed need? Other animals, for example, do not wear clothes; yet they survive the harsh elements of nature. As such, it is difficult to argue that clothing is necessary because it protects us from the elements. So, what then is the true purpose of clothing apart from hiding our nakedness?Apparently and arguably, as human beings, we fundamentally abhor transparency and vigorously embrace concealment.
Nonetheless, we often try as much as possible to mask ourselves and strategically reveal only those aspects we wish to share with others. This is at the heart of public relations for image and reputation management. It is also the essence of our secret society.
Allowing others into our secrets is a risk. It makes us vulnerable to the attentive gaze of the other. That’s what sexual relationships, in particular, mean. In such relationships, we let others in, as much as we are comfortable with. This letting in can be endangering, as you can’t completely predict how it goes. That’s why naming and shaming works as a deterrent and governance mechanism.
Technology, especially audio and visual, has nowadays found a way of scratching the surface of our private spaces. When recordings of intimate private conversations, for example, become public, they often come across as a tortuous (or exciting, if you are one of those who enjoy the misfortunes of others) journey into someone’s secrecy. Within this context of revealing, the subjects of such intended private conversations inadvertently become public objects of villainism and heroism – depending on how one looks at it – in the true sense of objectification. This intrusion enabled by audio recording and visualisation makes that which is hidden manifest. In addition, this manifestation simultaneously empowers and dehumanises, again, depending on which side of the fence one sits.
It is not difficult to draw from such cases, especially where the actions fall below expected societal norms, that transparency terrifies the essence of being human. Despite the hype around transparency, it remains a source of danger. For instance, what would life look like, if we all walked naked and our inner-most thoughts are visible to others? This will be absolute transparency in the true sense of the word; but, as much as we see the merits of transparency, in its absolute sense, it remains opaque – for therein partly lies our survival strategies.
…I invite you to imagine that we all walked naked with different shapes and shades. This imagination in itself is terrifying because we are beings full of imperfections hidden in fashion and style. We are all victims of the natural state we would prefer to hide.
It is obvious that not every revealing is positive and desirable. It is in our nature to cover and conceal. Concealment, as opposed to transparency, becomes our real toga. The fashion industry understands it. Brands also understand it. Both help us mask our real selves and produce some form of inauthenticity in an unimaginable quantum. In the process, wealth is created. It is this quest for wealth creation that unites modern technology and the clothing industry. To be human, therefore, is to be as concealed as much as possible in our socially constructed and borrowed togas – both literally and metaphorically.
The dangers of technology here are made real in this way and they consume us as they glow. This glowing is not far from the ever glowing fire of Heraclitus – the ancient Greek philosopher who thought that fire constituted the essence of everything. Martin Heidegger, a 20th century, a contemporary German philosopher, saw it ahead of his time when he reflected on, and problematised, technology as a danger and a dangerous zone.
Again, I invite you to imagine that we all walked naked with different shapes and shades. This imagination in itself is terrifying because we are beings full of imperfections hidden in fashion and style. We are all victims of the natural state we would prefer to hide. The Igbos capture this inherent state of helplessness and inevitable vulnerability very well: ngwere nile makpu a makpu, onyeghi onye ma nke afu na aru – literally translated as: “every lizard lies flat on the ground; no one knows which of them with stomach ache”. The other saying is: onye eze ya putara ihe, bu onye eze nkotonko – meaning “he whose teeth are revealing is a big-toothed individual”.
After all said and done, perhaps, we can find a place in our hearts to accept the futility of our efforts to be completely transparent. This is an invitation for us to reflect on our ability to remain concealed from the attentive gaze of others, which inadvertently militates against our continuous quest for transparency. Next time, before you laugh at and feast on the misfortune of the secret conversations of others, think twice because you are also a victim and product of a secret society.
Hopefully, through this exercise, we may find consolation in the view that we shall all be naked and unconcealed in the end. Then, everything about us will be revealed and the fingers of derision may point us to scorn. In the interim, however, welcome to our secret society and make the best of it!
Kenneth Amaeshi is a policy analyst and professor at the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. He tweets @kenamaeshi
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