Have you heard of the concept of a panopticon? It was invented in 1791 by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832). He was a British philosopher, social scientist and social critic. During Bentham’s time crime was rampant in urban England and the panopticon was conceived as principally a prison surveillance system. The concept was also envisioned for hospitals, military barracks and schools. The concept was based upon surreptitious surveillance exercised by the belief of potential (at any time) surveillance more than of actual surveillance.
While even Plato mused about the ability of government to control via surveillance ... no doubt Bentham’s work must have been at least a contributing piece of inspiration to George Orwell. Even later the concept must have influenced Ayn Rand’s response to what she called “collectivism”.
Bentham had not such Orwellian thoughts in mind. He was a pioneer in what today would be called prison reform and he brought about change in British law making a more compassionate view of affliction. His studies did show, as have many others, that people do, indeed, adjust their behavior when they believe they are being watched. Bentham even invented the term “utilitarianism”. His intention about surveillance is not what has worked out in today’s society.
In 1979 Bentham’s design was used metaphorically by Michael Foucault for the Modernist Disciplinary Society. Today it is continuing to influence and shape future thinking. Suddenly we have 4,200,000 (or more) cameras in London alone. You can not go anywhere in London without being tracked ... and in this case it’s not a threat of surveillance, it’s full time.
Let’s face it, there is no such thing as privacy any more. “Packet sniffers” sort through streams of data in basically every internet context. And in the context of the internet where we’ve already heard of the phrase ... “participatory panopticon” ... it may be we will fear little brother more than big brother in the future. Data collation on things from taboos about eating, to bathroom behavior ... from gestures by motorists to people’s behavior at war memorials is available and ready to be analyzed by the ultimate “naive source” ... YOU.
W2
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| The Eye of Power |
| The Panopticon: |
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