Meyer Wolfsheim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote : > > On Thu, 14 Feb 2002, Tim May wrote: > > > The notion that a Panopticon (everything being watched) is desirable is > > one of the weirdest mutations of political theory in the past century. > > Whether or not a panopticon exists isn't relevant to its usefulness in > promoting "good behavior" -- what matters is that the people believe it > exists. > > This is why humankind has so persistently believed in the various > "omniscient and benevolent dictator god" religious myths. Belief in an > infallible panopticon is an evolutionary adaptation. > > I suspect that the last century has produced the greatest number of > rational atheists, which may have resulted in the concurrent shift from > relying on Allah to punish the wicked to inventing a need for Big Brother > to do so. > I don't think it has anything to do with atheism or rationalism - both of which I am quite fond of.
It has more to do with a human need for institutions which seems to be present in >90% of the population. Sort of a literal agoraphobia. Isn't there something regarding these personality traits in the Meyers-Briggs tests? http://www.phobialist.com/ My favorite is Zemmiphobia Mike
