Panopticon

This is probably going to be a bit of a mini rant, been thinking bout this for a while (10 years in fact).

> Although it is physically impossible for the single guard to observe all the inmates' cells at once, the fact that the inmates cannot know when they are being watched motivates them to act as though they are all being watched at all times. They are effectively compelled to self-regulation.

This is the fundamental idea of the Panopticon, and you see it baked into parts of the modern surveillance State as well. But outside of some workplace and carceral contexts i don't think its actually the direction we are headed. The spooks want the power to actually use the data surveillance gives them, they are not really interested in social control as far as I can tell. At least not yet.

True, most of the data hoovered up by the "Intelligence community" is almost never actually looked at with human eyes, but they are actively trying to work towards building a system whereby all that data is still analyzed and used, or quickly searched with just the right keywords.

The panopticon is useful for illustrating one of the many side dangers of surveillance (namely that it instills fear and stifles expression) but it does not cut to the core issue: Mass surveillance drastically upsets the power balance between the government and the governed.

This one was in use until very, very recently:

https://www.injusticewatch.org/news/prisons-and-jails/2020/s... (F-House at Stateville Correctional Center, the last panopticon-style prison building in the U.S.)

I think it is closed again. When I was in there this year I believe the other inmates were saying it is finally closed for good.

Edit: note, the alternatives are not better. The conditions I was held in were far worse. (there are zero photos of the inside of the supermax section I was held in)

Panopticon techniques are real, they work on multiple levels, and there are bad people who organize to use them. The dignity of your humanity is not guaranteed in this world (or free), and it requires conscious vigilence to develop it and preserve it. We legit worry that the internet has become a panopticon and our tech is devouring our civilizations, but it also gave us the most devastating antidote to it that no tyranny can or has ever survived. It's one word, every machination is powerless against it, and to forever secure our humanity I will share it here by example:

lol.

Sometimes I wonder how things like pop up to the front page with basically zero discussion. I would have thought the op would have at least made a comment as to why they decided to post it. Commentary on current surveillance society or just interested in the style of buildings (mainly prisons) this created in 1800s.

The animation[0] describing its construction was equal parts interesting and terrifying.

[0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Panopticon_Animation_by...

It seems obvious to me (*) why a panopticon prison (at least, the type with no doors on the cells) doesn’t work - there’s no easy way to exert control. As soon as prisoners start misbehaving, you need more guards, far more so than a ‘normal’ prison would require. Without a lot of stairs and ladders, the guards can’t move to problem areas easily, and stairs/ladders are problem points even in conventional prisons. Furthermore, the game theory-like idea that the prisoners will work within the system is ruined by the fact that the guard can’t possibly catalogue multiple incidents occurring simultaneously. It seems very naive. Anyone that has tried to keep a classroom of young school children quiet/on task would know this I think.

(Whenever something is ‘obvious’ to me, I take it as a sign that I’m not understanding it fully).

New song by Peter Gabriel close to this Panopticom https://youtu.be/VMJGV7GWC5I?si=Bj8sYDlAk46Jn_-N

Yes, cellphones am I right

Religion is a panopticon