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That summary is technically correct but is missing some context. A famous French philosopher and historian named Michel Foucault popularized Bentham's panoptico
by kaycebasques 2y ago
That 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.
- 3D30497420 2y agoThough that depends quite a lot on who gets to define what is "good" and "bad".
- theoreticalmal 2y agoSeems wise to leave the answering of that question to a transcendent entity
- int_19h 2y ago[flagged]
- all2 2y ago[flagged]
- kelnos 2y agoThat argument doesn't make it any better. That just makes God a eugenicist.
- asacrowflies 2y ago[flagged]
- nilamo 2y agoIf the results of that determination only apply after I'm dead, then their definition of good is not entirely relevant to me.
- uticus 2y agoSounds like we've met. I'd take God in this position over one man or many any day of the week "Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. For thou art the God of my strength..." "...but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."
- Henchman21 2y agoAgreed. I’ll take a fictional overseer vs an actual one any day of the week.
- telmo 2y agoI was raised catholic and I now consider it a form of abuse. Someone close to me was raised evangelic and thinking about this makes her want to puke. The psychological damage from this sort of thing is probably so prevalent that it looks like water to a fish. Not to speak of the sleepless nights at 7 years old worrying about eternal damnation. This is all abuse and it should be treated as such by any decent and civilised society.
- ehnto 2y agoI was not raised Christian growing up, but I still recall believing someone was always watching me as a kid. It was likely because so many around me were religious, and I had been told so many dead relatives were "up there smiling down on us" when they died. I thought both that someone was looking through my windows and that people "up there" could see me. Until I got access to pornography (too early) and then I guess the tradeoffs changed, and I eventually got over it. I do distinctly remember wondering what grandma thinks of me at that time. But not for long, logic kicks in to explain anything away when you've got fast internet to exploit.
- TeMPOraL 2y ago> But not for long, logic kicks in to explain anything away when you've got fast internet to exploit. Not everyone is so lucky; for some, the feelings of guilt and shame never get dissolved through logic, it's just the dopamine loop is strong enough that the person keeps doing things they later despise themselves for. Guess how that can impact the psyche over a decade or two.
- mythrwy 2y agoMaybe not psychologically healthy for the individual, but likely provides some social benefits. Anyway, it doesn't appear to work as well lately so we maybe should come up with another approach for social stability.
- telmo 2y ago> Maybe not psychologically healthy for the individual, but likely provides some social benefits. I never understood this line of reasoning. What good are "social benefits" if the happiness and well being of the human beings that make up that society are sacrificed? Isn't this the basis of totalitarianism? "Everything for the State, nothing against the State".
- bloomingeek 2y agoAs a christian, I can handle this concept. But only in the context where the deity accepts that I can never be perfect and yet can be acceptable. This concept, though biblical, is hardly ever taught because of the fear of it being taken advantage of. The deity requires effort, not perfection. If this is false, then the messiah was a complete waste of time.
- mullingitover 2y ago> But only in the context where the deity accepts that I can never be perfect and yet can be acceptable. This is the religion where everyone, over 6000 years later, is being vindictively punished because a couple of their ancestors, in a single instance, broke a rule about eating from one of the trees. The deity, who is omnipotent and could decide stop this all at any time, allows for all manner of terrible diseases and pestilence to be visited on innocent children.
- Veelox 2y agoA few thoughts. One is that not all of christendom subscribes to the view that it was literally one man, some take a less literal view. Second, a vast majority of human suffering is down stream of human decisions. Yes it is possible for an omnipotent being to stop all suffering but I would argue it would remove all moral decision making from humans which is important.
- esperent 2y ago> not all of christendom subscribes to the view that it was literally one man, some take a less literal view I grew up in a Christian country and your "some" is doing a lot of work. Sure, perhaps some specific Christian theologists take that view. But, all actual Christians are taught from childhood that it was one specific man, tempted by one specific woman into eating a literal fruit. The only thing that's generally mentioned as open to interpretation is whether the fruit was an apple. You might get exposed to more nuanced theological views if you study at a seminary, but not while living your life as an average person who identifies as Christian, which is the vast majority.
- amelius 2y ago> It's generally agreed among members that this is a good thing. Some say it is just the way the rich keep the poor from killing them.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- Der_Einzige 2y ago[flagged]