Panopticon and the ‘Uni-Context’: How to Escape Our Techno-Cultural Moment

Derek Thompson’s podcast Plain English recently featured the philosophy professor Agnes Callard and explored her theory that communications technologies and our culture have conspired to produce a “uni-context.”

Previously, people looked around themselves locally to discover social norms, whether in their home, their religious congregation, or via an event or institution. Now, we increasingly act and think of ourselves as existing in one universally present context. For Callard, our techno-cultural moment, one that has been crystalizing for more than a century, produces a world in which there is little or no “elsewhere.” Instead, everything you say or do can be recalled and judged in one flattened, total context. This discourages expression, because utterances are exposed to all possible publics at once, including those that are hostile or uncomprehending.

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review Online.

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Derek Thompson’s podcast Plain English recently featured the philosophy professor Agnes Callard and explored her theory that communications technologies and our culture have conspired to produce a “uni-context.”

Previously, people looked around themselves locally to discover social norms, whether in their home, their religious congregation, or via an event or institution. Now, we increasingly act and think of ourselves as existing in one universally present context. For Callard, our techno-cultural moment, one that has been crystalizing for more than a century, produces a world in which there is little or no “elsewhere.” Instead, everything you say or do can be recalled and judged in one flattened, total context. This discourages expression, because utterances are exposed to all possible publics at once, including those that are hostile or uncomprehending.