Discussing Focault in class lead to a thought...life itself is a panopticon. A panopticon is a way in which one is being observed at all times, or at least they think they may be. There is a possibility that they are always being observed.
We can list different places as being a panopticon. The airport is constantly under surveillance by the TSA; you're not supposed to even say anything that may be taken as suspicious if overheard. A school has its students under constant watch; if not for their grades and behavior, then for social pressure. A prison is an obvious one. Politicians cannot falter in the eye of the media and of the public. The Internet sees your every move.
“Induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power" (98). We are constantly aware of this pressure to perform.
When we really think about it, life itself is, in fact, a panopticon. The only escape is to go off the grid. And even then, someone somewhere knows you've done that and makes a judgement....maybe they tell their neighbors, "My crazy cousin went to go live in a cabin in the woods." You're still being talked about. You're still be "watched." Your life fuels the conversation topics of others.
“Our society is one not of spectacle, but of surveillance” (101).
We can list different places as being a panopticon. The airport is constantly under surveillance by the TSA; you're not supposed to even say anything that may be taken as suspicious if overheard. A school has its students under constant watch; if not for their grades and behavior, then for social pressure. A prison is an obvious one. Politicians cannot falter in the eye of the media and of the public. The Internet sees your every move.
“Induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power" (98). We are constantly aware of this pressure to perform.
When we really think about it, life itself is, in fact, a panopticon. The only escape is to go off the grid. And even then, someone somewhere knows you've done that and makes a judgement....maybe they tell their neighbors, "My crazy cousin went to go live in a cabin in the woods." You're still being talked about. You're still be "watched." Your life fuels the conversation topics of others.
“Our society is one not of spectacle, but of surveillance” (101).
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