THE OPT-IN PANOPTICON (Proverbs For Paranoids, 2026)

Описание: THE OPT-IN PANOPTICON
In 1787, Jeremy Bentham designed a prison where you never knew if you were being watched. In 2026, you carry that prison in your pocket. You paid a thousand dollars for it. You agreed to the terms of service.
This essay traces a line from Bentham's Panopticon through Foucault's theory of self-surveillance to the thing you did this morning before your feet hit the floor. Along the way: Pynchon's proverbs for paranoids, the plastic surgeons documenting patients who want to look like their filtered selfies, the philosopher who actually coined the word "performative" (you're using it wrong), and the uncomfortable question underneath all of it—why do we keep opting in when we already know what it costs?
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SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Jeremy Bentham, Panopticon; or, The Inspection-House (1787)
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1975)
Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow (1973)
J.L. Austin, How to Do Things with Words (1955)
Eli Pariser, The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You (2011)
American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Annual Survey (2021)
University of Glasgow, TikTok Filter Bubble Study (2023)
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