*Ø* Blogmanac February 15, 1748 | Jeremy Bentham is watching you
1748 Jeremy Bentham, English philosopher who pioneered utilitarianism and extolled the philosophical tenet of “the greatest good to the greatest number”
His body is still on display
Blame Bentham for office design?
Bentham is also known for a particular invention that affects our lives very much today, the ‘panopticon’. He proposed it as a model prison, whereby the prisoners’ activities could be seen virtually at all times by the prison warders. By the same token, the inmates could not see the guards, and never know when surveillance was upon him. The psychological uncertainty was in itself part of the control and discipline of prisoners.
Westerners and many in non-Western countries live today in a panopticon world, through hidden cameras mounted almost everywhere we go, the increasing government surveillance of every phone call, website, email and telephone text message, and by the arrangement of offices, furniture and partitions in the workplace as well as in shops and public buildings. Next time you’re in a bank, a government office lobby, waiting in line anywhere indoors or outdoors in any city – remember the Almanac’s birthday boy for the day, Jeremy Bentham.
Next time you’re at work, have a look where the boss sits and where you sit. Notice how high the partitions are, where the water cooler and tea room are placed, and where the cameras are positioned. When you go to a movie, and are waiting in line for a ticket, check the camera inside the foyer, and outside on the wall, somewhere high up. It might be that little hole, barely visible.Tomorrow there will be even more panopticons, and the next day, some more. The panopticon owners will send alerts to justify them, but perhaps their messages about duct tape and body searches, and closing down websites, will not sink in, because you will be thinking of something else. You might be thinking of Jeremy.
The French philosopher, Michel Foucault, identified the panopticon as a significant metaphor in modern society, and described its implications in Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1975) ...
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
1748 Jeremy Bentham, English philosopher who pioneered utilitarianism and extolled the philosophical tenet of “the greatest good to the greatest number”
His body is still on display
Blame Bentham for office design?
Bentham is also known for a particular invention that affects our lives very much today, the ‘panopticon’. He proposed it as a model prison, whereby the prisoners’ activities could be seen virtually at all times by the prison warders. By the same token, the inmates could not see the guards, and never know when surveillance was upon him. The psychological uncertainty was in itself part of the control and discipline of prisoners.
Westerners and many in non-Western countries live today in a panopticon world, through hidden cameras mounted almost everywhere we go, the increasing government surveillance of every phone call, website, email and telephone text message, and by the arrangement of offices, furniture and partitions in the workplace as well as in shops and public buildings. Next time you’re in a bank, a government office lobby, waiting in line anywhere indoors or outdoors in any city – remember the Almanac’s birthday boy for the day, Jeremy Bentham.
Next time you’re at work, have a look where the boss sits and where you sit. Notice how high the partitions are, where the water cooler and tea room are placed, and where the cameras are positioned. When you go to a movie, and are waiting in line for a ticket, check the camera inside the foyer, and outside on the wall, somewhere high up. It might be that little hole, barely visible.Tomorrow there will be even more panopticons, and the next day, some more. The panopticon owners will send alerts to justify them, but perhaps their messages about duct tape and body searches, and closing down websites, will not sink in, because you will be thinking of something else. You might be thinking of Jeremy.
The French philosopher, Michel Foucault, identified the panopticon as a significant metaphor in modern society, and described its implications in Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1975) ...
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
Pip Wilson posted item above at 11:24 PM | Permalink
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