Society does rest on secrets, but also on another more nuanced thing, discretion: In areas of life where privacy is eroded and everything you do can be posted to instagram or largish whatsapp groups, people can become more reserved and start acting more conventionally and blandly. Before this kind of social media behaviour, there was gossip, but it was a noisy channel and people forwarding gossip would also stake something when forwarding gossip.

Yes, society rests on compartmentalized information, which to people outside the compartments are "secrets"

> do you really feel that society rests on secrets?

Even on a first pass, you have to answer yes. The legal and medical fields exist on a foundation of secrecy. A lawyer that cannot keep secrets is a terrible lawyer and cannot defend his/her client. A doctor that cannot keep secrets is a terrible doctor and will never have patients approach him/her for anything even remotely embarrassing.

Sometimes folks have no choice if they want to be part of society. My very survival in a social setting was to not let folks catch on that I'm bisexual just to not be treated differently. I found this out early: some girls in 8th grade decided I was lesbian and people quit talking to me. This was in the early 90's. It followed me around until I switched schools again, and I had very few friends. I'm more open about myself now, but at 13/14 through... later in life... I wasn't equipped to handle such things. I'm also atheist, which doesn't fare well in Indiana.

In societies that are more accepting of others and focus on inclusion, there isn't as much need for secrets. I never found this in American society for the most part.