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Week 5

 "Panopticism" from Discipline and Punish

I feel like I often forget the organization of power, and how it structures my behavior everyday. Foucault's discussion of panopticism created a strong connection between the organization of power to everyday life. What started out as an illness outbreak in town, the Plague illustrates the shift of people no longer just being punished after misbehaving, but now being monitored to prevent it. Once seen as parts of a house, windows, doors, and streets, became spaces of surveillance. The emphasis was on controlling actions before disorder could even occur, and the idea of visible punishment seemed to disappear.

This idea came from the physical design of the Panopticon; a prison designed so that inmates never know when they are being watched. The power lies in the hands of the prisoner's assumption that they could be watched at any point. Roles have switched and now the guard isn't really the one holding the power. This constant fear of possibly being watched produces self discipline. Foucault explains how this model extends beyond only prisons, into hospitals, schools, and work, as they have adopted similar ideas to shape people's behavior.

We have seen how this idea has changed over time, and it has now turned into a digital panopticon that we all live in. Social media and tracking systems act as guards, and these tools make us act as though we are being watched. Foucault makes it clear that power isn't only about forcing people to obey. Power also quietly influences how people act, making us feel like we might be watched at any time.


"The Cryptopticon"

Vaidhyanathan builds on a very similar theme as Foucault did. But in his piece he flips the idea into something less visible, the cryptopticon. The cryptopticon thrives on people not knowing they are being observed, where the Panopticon lets people know they may be observed. Corporations collect, analyze, and trade our data often times without us even realize it. We don't even realize us constantly being watched.

This reading made me reconsider how much convenience tricks us. People often don't question things when they could make their life even the slightest bit easier. I have caught myself saving credit cards in websites, allowing my computer remember my password, or the countless number of times I have clicked "I agree" without even reading a word, all of these actions make the cryptopticon stronger. But people never fight it, because all of this makes things easier. But behind this convenience, is a massive system of data tracking we are unaware of.

What is frightening about the cryptopticon is that we aren't aware it's working. Instead of making us behave because we're afraid of being watched, it steers our actions from a far, without us even realizing. We tune out suggested videos or targeted ads, but these videos come from our personal data that we didn't fully realize was being collection. In contrast to Foucault's Panopticon, where people alter their behavior because they know they might be watched, the cryptopticon works best when we stay unaware.

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