Make Your Point > Archived Issues > PANOPTICON
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pronounce
PANOPTICON:
Say it "pan OPP tuh con."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
I bet you can look at the word panopticon and see all of its Greek roots. Yes, see them, all of them. What does the "pan" part mean, and what does the "optic" part mean?
Oh, you know! "Pan" = "all," and "optic" = "seeing."
That's why panopticon resembles words like panh___n ("affecting all humans"), panth__n ("all the gods, or all the important people or things"), and pan____ic ("giving you a view of all things").
And, that's why it resembles words like optics (the way things look), optometry (care for, or measurement of, eyesight), and enoptromancy. Wait, what? You know, enoptromancy (or, spelled "enoptomancy"), the practice of foretelling the future by looking into a mirror.
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definition:
The word "panopticon" has Greek roots meaning "(for) all sight," or more loosely, "all-seeing." It may have been influenced by the mythical character, Argus Panoptes, a giant with lots of eyes (in some tales, a hundred).
In English, going back to about 1742, a "panopticon" was a kind of projector, then a tool that showed several scenes at once, as well as a tool that worked as both a telescope and a microscope.
In 1787, Jeremy Bentham used the word "panopticon" to describe his system of designing prisons, which let the warden see all the inmates at the same time.
(Thanks to Wikipedia for that image!)
Today, we still use the word "panopticon" to describe prisons and other large buildings that have that kind of design pictured above, where you can see everything at once. In other words, a panopticon is a building or a design that lets you see everything at the same time.
Or, more loosely, it's anything that gives you a broad, wide, practically 360-degree view of things.
And, because being in a panopticon forces you to act as if you're being watched at all times, we can use "panopticon" figuratively to mean "a thing, a place, or a situation in which no one has privacy because everything is on display."
grammatical bits:
Part of speech: noun, the countable kind: "it's a panopticon," "these are panopticons."
Other forms:
The plural is simply "panopticons."
And the adjective is "panoptic." (Or, less commonly, "panoptical.")
Not all dictionaries recognize the adverb, "panoptically." You can use it, but watch your back because grammarians are keeping tabs on you 24/7/365. Just kidding. Here's Forbes: "to panoptically see solutions when none appear to exist." And here's Book Riot: "the story unfolds panoptically, transporting readers through time." Finally, here's James Wood: "[he] seems to rear panoptically above his subjects, like a statue overseeing a city square."
how to use it:
This word is rare, but it should be pretty easy for your listeners to understand.
The tone is often negative: panopticons are intrusive, oppressive, prison-like, or just plain creepy.
Refer to something as a panopticon, like a building, a school, a social media site, a city, a nation, etc.
The adjective, "panoptic," can mean "like a panopticon: related to a prison-like situation with zero privacy." But it can also simply mean "seeing everything, covering everything: sweeping, extensive, comprehensive." Let's explore how to use it.
You might stick to the stricter sense, "involving full views and no privacy," and talk about a panoptic view or perspective, panoptic layouts and buildings, panoptic control or oppression, panoptic focus or attention, panoptic surveillance, or some creepy authority's panoptic eye(s) or gaze(s). Here's the New York Times: "the panoptic gaze of the neighborhood yentas [gossips]."
But you can also use "panoptic" in its looser sense: "sweeping, comprehensive, looking at everything." You might talk about a panoptic curiosity, interest, coverage of a topic, etc. Here's Rosalind Mitchison, in an academic text from 2002: "other work which has attempted a panoptic view of British history."
examples:
"Facebook is a dystopian panopticon that monitors our every move and uses that information to predict and manipulate our behavior."
— Casey Newton, The Verge, 21 August 2019
"The state of Utah has given an artificial intelligence company real-time access to state traffic cameras, CCTV and 'public safety' cameras, 911 emergency systems, location data for state-owned vehicles, and other sensitive data.... Privacy experts are unsure how Banjo [the company] can be doing anything other than applying machine learning to a terrifying amount of data to create a persistent panopticon pointed at everyone who lives in Utah."
— Jason Koebler, Emanuel Maiberg, and Joseph Cox, Vice, 4 March 2020
has this page helped you understand "panopticon"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "panopticon" without saying "a situation where you're being watched all the time" or "a place where you can see everything at once."
try it out:
Writing for Slate, Josh Levin complained that modern basketball has turned into a panopticon, with cameras everywhere and instant replays that, instead of heightening the drama, kill it. And then dissect it.
He says: "What we see on the court, whether brilliant or mundane, gets overwhelmed and overturned by off-court autopsies."
Do you think he's right? Has basketball, or any other sport, morphed into a panopticon? Has that happened to any other arena, like, say, politics? Or the stock market? Or Twitter? If so, has anything good come of it, or is it all just tiresome, invasive, and eerie?
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
This month, our game is called "Fix the Grand Spell which was Cast by Short Words."
(Or, in monstrously inflated terms, the game is called "Rewrite the Extraordinary Incantation which was Executed by Monosyllabic Vocables.")
In each issue, I'll offer a familiar quote that I've heartlessly hypertrophied with polysyllabic transplants. You'll restore the quote to its original version, with each word just one syllable long.
That is to say, I'll share a fat, fake draft of a famed quote; you'll say the trim real one.
For example, if I say "Exploit an opportunity while the situation allows," then you say, "Make hay while the sun shines." If I say, "Durations remedy every laceration," then you say, "Time heals all wounds."
From the previous issue:
"I cherish you directly upwards to the planet's natural satellite--multiplied by two." --> "I love you right up to the moon--and back."
Try this today: "To possess certitude is to possess devices for aviation."
Say that, but in words of one beat each.
Clues:
Where it's from: a children's novel.
The year we first heard it: 1902.
review this word:
A. PEEPHOLE.
B. CORNUCOPIA.
C. GLASS HOUSE.
2. In the computer lab, a kind of educational panopticon, our instructor assured us she could _____.
A. improve our eye for graphic design without drowning us in details
B. view all of our screens from hers and even cast ours onto the whiteboard
C. turn even the technophobes among us into confident PowerPoint masters
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.
I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
I bet you can look at the word panopticon and see all of its Greek roots. Yes, see them, all of them. What does the "pan" part mean, and what does the "optic" part mean? The word "panopticon" has Greek roots meaning "(for) all sight," or more loosely, "all-seeing." It may have been influenced by the mythical character, Argus Panoptes, a giant with lots of eyes (in some tales, a hundred).
Part of speech: noun, the countable kind: "it's a panopticon," "these are panopticons."
This word is rare, but it should be pretty easy for your listeners to understand.
"Facebook is a dystopian panopticon that monitors our every move and uses that information to predict and manipulate our behavior."
Explain the meaning of "panopticon" without saying "a situation where you're being watched all the time" or "a place where you can see everything at once."
Writing for Slate, Josh Levin complained that modern basketball has turned into a panopticon, with cameras everywhere and instant replays that, instead of heightening the drama, kill it. And then dissect it.
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
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