Transparent Minds

Anthropologists have found that all over the world people believe
that their minds are transparent to gods, saints, ancestors or
other spirits. This is also true within the Christian tradition.
As Europe became more secular in the 18th and 19th centuries, the
idea that minds were transparent was secularised in novels, with
the novelist having a view of the inner workings of other
people's minds. And now our emails, phone calls and activities
are under continuous surveillance, making this ancient belief a
technical reality.