Commentary
The panopticon was an 18th-century idea by the British author and social theorist Jeremy Bentham as a device to monitor large numbers of people within a controlled space. Originally designed for a prison, it led to an atmosphere where it was impossible for the inmates to know when they were being watched by a central figure. This incertitude, in theory, motivated the prisoners to act as though they were all being watched at all times, and hence led to “self-regulation.”
