508: Are we living in a digital panopticon?

The boys drink and review Delicious IPA from Stone, then discuss prisons, and whether we're in a digital version of one. The "panopticon" is a prison design invented by the philosopher Jeremy Bentham. The idea is that if you make prisoners feel as if they're constantly under surveillance, the prisoners will regulate themselves and the guards won't have to bang them about so much. Modern prisons have adopted some of Bentham's ideas, but so have many other institutions. Foucault said this idea was the blueprint for all modern institutions. Schools, hospitals, and other organizations enforce conformity by defining what is "normal" and by constant surveillance. Stephen Cave added the concept of a "freedom quotient" by which we can determine how much freedom a person can exercise in any given situation. The boys tie it all together and ask whether the modern world is a digital prison. We know we're being surveilled. We know we're supposed to follow what the powerful have defined as "normal."