Censorship

“Every where I step, I only find corners”

“Slowly, they trap me”

— Words of Radiance, Brandon Sanderson

Today, half a year is gone and I made several lists. The lists weren’t about life plans for the remainder of the year. They were boring and mundane; things that would become next week’s recycling. Why did I make them? To put some order into what I needed to do. On that list, was this doodled thought on censorship.

Context is unnecessary but it has been pointed out to me that the way I express myself is not always welcome to the listener. This is a communication bridge that I’ve had to struggle at over the last few years. The older I get, the more I feel that my incessant need to express myself should reduce. People do not want to hear expression, they merely want summaries.

Is all adulthood censorship then? This idea has latched its hook in my brain that don’t we teach kids of auto-censor.

  • Do not swear.

  • Do not talk to people this way.

  • Be polite and say thank you.

  • Apologise

Are all etiquettes mere censorship of our animal instincts? Do we even realise that we are acting in a certain way or do we accept them as truths as if Frodo came back to the shire with them? This is the kind of thought process that leads me to question the fundamentals of what I am. What in my life has taught me to act this way?

That has probably been a mix of adults around me who did things which I mimicked into existence. A colleague said to me the other day that kids mimic everything. They learn through copying. If that is true, everything I am must be a version of the people I have encountered. The more interesting thing to think about would be whether we mimic as adults?

Whenever we hear words like herd mentality or following the crowd, I cringe. However, how many times do we disagree and oppose an opinion? Do we agree with people because we do not know better or do not care about everything? If yes, how different are we from becoming a herd with those people? We choose what we hope are trustworthy comrades in arms, and we follow them.

This is something that one can observe with bullies. Bullies are never singular. They usually move in packs. If one were to take one of the those out of that pack, you wouldn’t be able to reproduce the same kind of behaviour. When a person is individualised, I would say that they become quite conscious of their actions and in turn responsible for them. However, if one is addressing a group: the responsibility is lowered and the activeness can rise. There are positive sides to this. All of human evolution has happened through collective learning and building things together.

Do I feel that censorship being synonymous to adulthood a bad thing?

If I were being honest, no. It works in my favour most of the times. The idea of professionalism and decorum may make me uncomfortable but, I enjoy the benefits of someone not spitting in my face. This also leads moves into freedom of speech. As a theoretician, one can argue for it but one needs to remember that freedom of expression may allow someone to spit in another’s face. The freedom of expression is a dual edged sword and so is censorship.

There is always a balance between what is too much vs what is too little. All ideas, thoughts, censorship and expression have this in common. Finding this balance in life, is a back and forth. One would often do too much or too little but only, through tries this can be perfected. The one thing I’ve learnt though is: too little is always better than too much.

Apoorva JyotiComment