“The idea of censorship is thousands of years old,” psychotherapist Mitchell Smolkin starts. Smolkin’s work largely focuses on the dignity of suffering, and I’ve asked him if he could conceive of a reason why one might self-censor themselves. He begins with contemplation of philosophy.“Self deception was discussed by Plato, and used as a metaphor for the burgeoning consciousness of the human being. In Plato’s cave, he posited that the freedom that comes with self-expression is highly threatening to those that are unaware, and therefore censoring oneself can relieve one of a confrontation with the world.” Prisoners in a cave, staring at dancing shadows cast on a wall in front of them, believed them to truly be the objects of which they are only shadows of. That is, until one dared turn around and saw the sunlight stream in from the cave opening, coming to know what the others did not.

“On the other hand, the most famous example we have of the potential consequences of imposed censorship is George Orwell’s 1984, where we see the individual who comes to consciousness of their difference, and suffers quite a lot in trying to expose the lie.” There are, of course, modern day examples, 1984 no longer a fictional novel, but a metaphor for current and real circumstances. At the time of writing, the United States is contemplating the banning of TikTok, perhaps for reasons other than censorship; but it is impossible to ignore that 150 million Americans use the social platform. Even darker, Smolkin points out, “For instance, Alexei Navalny, who is suffering tremendously in a gulag in Russia for being the most prominent critic of the regime. In the cases where an individual is conscious of being censored, it can have life threatening consequences to their health and spirit.”

So when we fight against that human side of us that self-censors, and allow the animal through; when we are conscious of being suppressed, and fight at all costs to be liberated, what do we gain from self-expression? “While the ideal of freedom of self-expression is probably just that, an ideal that is never fully achieved in the binary sense, there is a lot to be said for the capacity in the human being to embody their longings and find a good enough means of expressing who they are.” Like the prisoner in Plato’s cave, who eventually walked out from the self-imposed confinement, knowing the light was to a better world, despite the other prisoners not believing it was so. Like the stranger in the street who knows to express just enough admiration to begin what may be a grand love affair, otherwise never experienced.

Smolkin impresses that it’s important to remember that this can be a cultural phenomena, more prominent in the West than in collective societies; and that truthfully, it is likely that we have many selves, not just the one, unlikely to ever all be expressed to their fullness. “But on a neurophysiological level, when the body and mind are working well together, and the human being can really leverage language and image to self-express, it can be a highly emancipating experience.”