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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 14th, 2023

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  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panopticon

    The panopticon is a design of institutional building with an inbuilt system of control, originated by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be observed by a single corrections officer, without the inmates knowing whether or not they are being watched.

    *Although it is physically impossible for the single guard to observe all the inmates’ cells at once, the fact that the inmates cannot know when they are being watched motivates them to act as though they are all being watched at all times. They are effectively compelled to self-regulation. The architecture consists of a rotunda with an inspection house at its centre. From the centre, the manager or staff are able to watch the inmates. Bentham conceived the basic plan as being equally applicable to hospitals, schools, sanatoriums, and asylums. He devoted most of his efforts to developing a design for a panopticon prison, so the term now usually refers to that. *





  • Many thanks to Ada here for the wisdom and patience it takes to navigate these challenges. Running an instance is hard enough; throwing user politics into the mix (especially those around trans identities) makes things down right treacherous.

    I’d support policies aligned with expected user behaviors and punishments for violations. Bad faith actors are going to try to burrow their way in here, and they’re going to make themselves known by testing boundaries and creeping up on the lines of what counts as unacceptable behavior. I’m comfortable with those kinds of edging-trolls being shown the door.