www.creativereview.co.uk: In the late 18th century, the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham designed a type of institutional building and a system of control. He called it The Panopticon.
The design was supposed to be for a prison. It would allow all inmates of an institution to be observed by a single watchman without the inmates being able to tell whether or not they are being watched. The word reflected the design – Pan – meaning ‘all-inclusive’ and ‘opticon’ meaning observation.
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This article is only available to subscribers, but I can imagine what it would probably have said. I think that this article is interesting, because our Imaginarium group has actually chosen to focus on surveillance as our theme. I think it's a deep fear in human beings of being watched and having others watch them, and this seems to reoccur throughout history. There is a constant dichotomy between feeling like we need the surveillance to keep us safe, but also not wanting to be watched and not wanting to be recorded, This has changed from the age of analog to now include not wanting our data to be recorded or our interests to be recorded, rather than just not wanting to be watched. It's something deep and personal, because we all want to be safe and want to make sure that those around us are protected and being held accountable, but we do not want to be watched and held accountable if we aren't breaking the law. This doesn't work, obviously, because we have to watch everyone to catch criminals, but yet the fight continues.
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