TheGrinder on Nostr: Today, The Modern Digital #Panopticon: A Prison Without Walls With the rise of ...
Today, The Modern Digital #Panopticon: A Prison Without Walls
With the rise of technology, the panopticon has evolved into a more invisible and pervasive form:
Mass Surveillance: Governments and corporations collect data on nearly every aspect of life, from internet searches to financial transactions. Even if people aren’t directly observed, the possibility of being watched influences behaviour.
Social Media & Algorithmic Control: The way people present themselves online is shaped by unseen forces. Algorithms decide what content is promoted or suppressed, nudging public opinion and self-expression.
AI & Predictive Policing: Machine learning analyses behaviours to predict criminal activity before it happens, reinforcing präemptive control rather than reactionary punishment.
CBDCs and Financial Surveillance: If governments control digital currencies, they could theoretically monitor and restrict transactions, creating a financial form of panoptic governance.
In this modern context, Bentham’s prison has no visible bars, but people still act as though they are inside one. Adjusting their actions, speech, and even thoughts to fit into an acceptable framework.
With the rise of technology, the panopticon has evolved into a more invisible and pervasive form:
Mass Surveillance: Governments and corporations collect data on nearly every aspect of life, from internet searches to financial transactions. Even if people aren’t directly observed, the possibility of being watched influences behaviour.
Social Media & Algorithmic Control: The way people present themselves online is shaped by unseen forces. Algorithms decide what content is promoted or suppressed, nudging public opinion and self-expression.
AI & Predictive Policing: Machine learning analyses behaviours to predict criminal activity before it happens, reinforcing präemptive control rather than reactionary punishment.
CBDCs and Financial Surveillance: If governments control digital currencies, they could theoretically monitor and restrict transactions, creating a financial form of panoptic governance.
In this modern context, Bentham’s prison has no visible bars, but people still act as though they are inside one. Adjusting their actions, speech, and even thoughts to fit into an acceptable framework.
quoting nevent1q…hvr8The #Panopticon as a Metaphor for Modern Society
In Discipline and Punish (1975), French philosopher Michel Foucault took Bentham’s panopticon and applied it to broader structures of power in modern society. He argued that the principles of the panopticon-surveillance, self-regulation, and psychological control had expanded beyond prisons and into:
Governments: Mass surveillance and bureaucratic oversight create a society where individuals conform to state expectations out of fear of consequences.
Schools: Students are monitored, graded, and disciplined, conditioning them to obey authority and regulate themselves.
Workplaces: Employees are tracked through cameras, productivity software, and performance reviews, fostering self-policing behaviours.
Social norms & digital surveillance: Today, social media, data tracking, and AI-driven monitoring create an environment where people behave as if they are constantly being watched—even in the absence of direct punishment.
Foucault described this system as “disciplinary power” a form of governance where control is internalized. People do not realize they are "prisoners" because they willingly participate in their own regulation, assuming it is normal.