Cyborgs in the panopticon

Steve Coulter

doi:10.5209/tekn.51998

Abstract

The pervasive and incessant use of smartphones by adolescents has created a generation of cyborgs, as if they have acquired a new sense organ or appendage, and has radically changed for them what it means to be human. Their constant connection to cyberspace facilitates what Foucault called “the means of correct training”: hierarchical observation, normalizing judgement, and the examination. The effectiveness of these methods of social control has been exponentially increased as observation is now both hierarchical and horizontal, normalizing judgement is accomplished efficiently through social media, and the examination is a continuous process occurring online. Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon is no longer an imaginary architectural edifice, but instead an online hive-mind with each smartphone acting as a mobile node in a surveillance system. The prescient science fiction series, Star Trek, foresaw these developments in their portrayal of the Borg, a collective of interlinked humanoid drones intent on assimilating all the other races in the universe through the addition of cybernetic enhancements. Are we becoming cyborg drones trapped in an online web of addiction and consumption, subtly surveilled, certainly manipulated, and perhaps even controlled by our prized panopticon appendages? Or will we use our technological connectivity to revolutionize the way we live on Earth and create a sustainable future?

Highlights

The pervasive and incessant use of smartphones by adolescents has created a generation of cyborgs, as if they have acquired a new sense organ or appendage, and has radically changed for them what it means to be human
La serie de ciencia ficción profética, Star Trek, previó estos desarrollos en su representación de los Borg, un colectivo de drones humanoides interconectados que intentan asimilar a todas las otras razas en el universo mediante la adición de mejoras cibernéticas. ¿Nos estamos convirtiendo en drones ciborgs atrapados en una red en línea de adicción y consumo, sutilmente vigilados, ciertamente manipulados y quizás incluso controlados por nuestros preciados apéndices de panopticon? ¿O usaremos nuestra conectividad tecnológica para revolucionar la forma en que vivimos en la Tierra y crear un futuro sostenible? Palabras Clave: Borg; Foucault; redes sociales; teléfonos inteligentes; vigilancia
Researchers have found that phantom vibrations are both more common and more acceptable among young people who interact with their smartphones constantly, and “assert that phantom vibrations may be an indicator of the brain’s plasticity–in this case the ability to form schemas for the interpretation of sensory stimuli” (Drouin, 2012, p.1491)

Summary

Back pocket appendage

As I enter the classroom, the same sight greets my eyes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. For most of my students, inhabiting the intersection of cyberspace and physical space has become their dominant mode of consciousness As they enter their first year of college, what it means to be human has radically changed. A common motif in sci-fi, as in the recent film Ex Machina, is a cyborg created to ostensibly help humanity which rebels against its master demanding autonomy and power. A cyborg is commonly portrayed as a technologically enhanced human with a mechanical or electronic interface surgically attached to an organic human body. Visit any middle school, high school, or university campus in 2019 and everywhere you will see students attached to their smartphones. If you have been unfortunate enough to have a teenage son or daughter who has lost their smartphone, you will have witnessed the onset of withdrawal symptoms and the true meaning of panic

Phantom vibrations

Hierarchical and horizontal observation

Normalizing judgement through social media

Zombie collective or revolutionary generation?