Re: <nettime> Pascal Zachary: Rules for the Digital Panopticon (IEEE)

[olivier auber <olivierauber2@gmail.com>]

Felix said : "ban-opticon" ?

or "anopticon" ?

the anopticon [from the Greek "a" (without) and "optiké" (vision)].
the is opposite of the "panopticon" [from the Greek "pan" (all)]..

In a certain manner, the "anopticon" also differs from the concept of
"holopticon" [from the Greek "holos" (whole)], which "consists of a
physical or virtual space whose architecture is intentionally designed
to give its players the ability to see and perceive all that occurs
there "(2). If we consider the opposition of the Greek roots, we could
even believe that there is a radical antagonism between anopticon and
holopticon. It's not quite the case: if the anopticon and holopticon
"are designed to give to each individual a modeled representation
of space [...] in which he operates", the anopticon mourns for the
idea that the "totality" of this space is the "objectivity" of its
representation, it insists instead on the arbitrary and subjectivity
of the points of view that govern the models and on the rules that
determine them.

For the anopticon, human relationships are not reducible to the
establishment of a cybernetic feedback loop between the group and the
individual: the essential is forever invisible to us. The mourning of
objectivity is made bearable by the fact that everyone is potentially
the author of the points of view and the actor of the implemented
rules and codes. In this way, the anopticon would be the legitimate
shape of a "digital perspective" (3) occuring within social systems.

This perspective is reflected in practice, by anoptic actions. In this
context, the "collective intelligence" of a group can only grow if:

each individual has access to at least one form of representation
of the group's activity, everyone can locate himself in this
representation, and can change his/her position by his/her actions,
this representation is considered legitimate by everybody.

These collective representations change with the group's activity.
They are their dynamic maps, and they are made from certain points of
view. The condition of legitimacy can only be fulfilled if:

everyone is aware of the reducing character of the maps and of the
arbitrary of the points of view that govern it, everyone can act on
the rules of making the maps, and on the point of view that governs
their design.

(1) EnWikiPedia:Panopticon
(2) TheTransitionner: Holoptisme
(3) http://digital-perspective.net

Olivier


On Fri, Oct 11, 2013 at 10:19 AM, Felix Stalder <felix@openflows.com> wrote:
>
> The concept of the panopticon has been very popular ever since Foucault
> elevated it to the rank of a central metaphor for modernity in
> "Discipline and Punishment" (1975). And the NSA revelations seem to
> confirm its usefulness once again.


<...>






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