[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Diq6TAtSECg[/youtube]
Because the voiceover is German, here a quick summary: If you put a frog into a tub of boiling water, it’ll feel the heat and jump out. However, if the temperature is ok when you put it in, it will stick around. If the heat is now turned up gradually, the frog won’t notice and you end up with cooked frog.
Here it draws an analogy: Our society displays similar responses to a frog. If you would try and install a totalitarian surveillance state, people would protest. But surveillance is introduced at a low level, and then turned up gradually, with the same end result. Because we are getting used to it, we are in danger of not noticing when it’s getting too hot for comfort. A person who is watched adjusts their behaviour to this fact, and this can have severe effects, e.g. on the freedom of speech. If you are worried about being watched, you are more likely to not say what you think, especially if your opinion are not in line with the mainstream.
Simple but effective.
Social tagging: analogy > animation > cameras > cctv > freedom of speech > frog > society > surveillance > water