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Since I doubt I'm the only one who didn't know what a "panopticon" is: A "panopticon" is a concept originally designed as a type of prison by the English philo
by BurningFrog 2y ago
Since I doubt I'm the only one who didn't know what a "panopticon" is:
A "panopticon" is a concept originally designed as a type of prison by the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the late 18th century. It’s a circular building with a central watchtower where a single guard can observe all the inmates in their cells, which are arranged around the perimeter. The twist? The inmates can’t see into the tower, so they never know if they’re being watched. This setup was meant to induce self-discipline—prisoners would behave as if they’re always under surveillance, even if no one’s actually looking.
- cozzyd 2y agoAlso a kickass album by Isis (a bit unfortunately named now...).
- johnisgood 2y agoNot to be confused with ISIS, lmao. Here is the album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF6Qzd9BLSQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF6Qzd9BLSQ
- kylebenzle 2y ago[flagged]
- wrboyce 2y ago[flagged]
- intrasight 2y agoAm curious. How, with 17th century technology, could you have a geometry where I can see you but you can't see me? Glass treatment? Narrow viewing port?
- thatcat 2y agoa circular room looking out from a high point facing an exterior round wall of cells that look in
- sprobertson 2y agoDon't need any special tech or geometry, just light. If it's relatively darker in the watched-from areas it's harder to see in than out.
- thecosas 2y agoLight and perhaps curtains in the central area would probably do the trick.
- scoot 2y ago"By Blinds, and other contrivances, the Inspectors concealed from the observation of the Prisoners: hence the sentiment of a sort of invisible omnipresence." — Jeremy Bentham (1791). Panopticon, or The Inspection House
- ndsipa_pomu 2y agoSomething like a pinhole camera. If you have a piece of card with a pinprick hole in it, you can look through that hole and see a wide view, but a person in front of you wouldn't be able to see much of you through that same hole.
- BurningFrog 2y agoSomething like "one way mirrors" should work. They're really just glass with a partially reflective layer. When one side is brightly lit and the other side isn't you get the desired effect.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- tzs 2y agoIf the internet is to be believed they did not have one way mirrors in the 17th century. They were invented in the early 1900s. However, looking at the patent for what is supposed to be the first it says that there were earlier attempts--they just sucked because making the partially reflective layer was difficult and expensive and not durable enough when used on outdoor advertising devices. Yes, you read that right. Advertising. Technology being driven by someone's desire to show ads is not new. The thing the inventor was building was a case for displaying advertising posters. The case had a glass front, and the poster was behind the glass, with powerful lights behind the poster. When the lights were off the glass would appear to people looking at the case to be a mirror. When the lights were on the poster could be seen.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- AlotOfReading 2y agoPlain glass works fine for this, but they were perfectly capable of making one way mirrors at the time. The historical term is "half silvered mirror", which were used in a lot of early scientific research in optics. Frankly you could just use blinds though.
- tzs 2y agoIf the internet is to be believed silvered mirrors also came after the 17th century. Wikipedia has silvered mirrors as being from 1835.
- RKFADU_UOFCCLEL 2y ago[flagged]
- tomcam 2y agoPrisons in the 1800s were dark
- kayo_20211030 2y agoIt's a metaphor mostly.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- frereubu 2y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon
- linuxlizard 2y agoRoot word comes from the Greek mythological giant. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argus_Panoptes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argus_Panoptes
- thrance 2y agoWhose name itself comes from the ancient Greek words pan (all) and optikon (optics, see).
- kaycebasques 2y agoThat summary is technically correct but is missing some context. A famous French philosopher and historian named Michel Foucault popularized Bentham's panopticon as a metaphor for modern society more broadly back in the 60s. IIRC the gist is that the way modern society always watches and monitors us across many aspects of modern life probably has deep but subtle affects on our psyches. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discipline_and_Punish https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discipline_and_Punish
- greenavocado 2y agoThe inability of people to go through the power process has deep psychological implications, described in depth in "Industrial Society and It's Future"
- woleium 2y agoLike thinking the “elf on the shelf” Christmas toy is an acceptable thing.
- moate 2y ago"Hey, what if we marketed a little narc doll that we sold to kids" was probably when I should have realized that the surveillance state will always win
- mullingitover 2y ago> probably has deep but subtle affects on our psyches Many religions (basically all the big ones) forcefully indoctrinate members from childhood to believe that their deity is omniscient and is constantly watching them and judging them. It's generally agreed among members that this is a good thing.
- Dylan16807 2y agoI'd be significantly less worried about being in a panopticon if it was going to accurately judge my good and bad deeds and do nothing else.
- moffkalast 2y agoThat's one GPT-ass paragraph
- RandomBacon 2y agoMaybe, but if so, it was an appropriate use.
- atoav 2y agoIt is all about informational asymmetry, you know nothing about the people in power, while they (potentially) could know all about you. The idea is to get you to self-police by assuming the gaze of those wielding the power.
- klondike_klive 2y agoYou just described my Catholic upbringing
- cyanydeez 2y agothe scarier thing is, prior to the AIs, even if they could get all this information, there was no one to sort through it, so they needed some actual reason to look. Now they don't need any reason to look, they can just make a bunch of AI sift through it.
- singleshot_ 2y agoHow awfully unfortunate to spend your entire life in a panopticon without ever being told what one is. Perhaps this is a feature.
- forgotusername6 2y agoIs it ironic or fitting that a man who designed a building where everyone could be observed is now observed himself for eternity. His preserved corpse is on display at University College London.
- xhevahir 2y agoAutomated review of camera data differs from the classic panopticon, though, in that it's possible for the system to observe every person, every time.
- rapnie 2y agoIn the Netherlands 3 panopticon-style prisons were built from 1882 to 1886. This is the one that stands in Breda: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koepelgevangenis_(Breda) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koepelgevangenis_(Breda)
- fjfaase 2y agoSome years ago, the one in Arnhem, was up for sale, and the local hacker space, hack42, made an attempt to buy it and turn it into the largest hacker space of Europe. The plan did not work out.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]