The culture of control and the creation of uncontrollable rooms

In the modern age, most people have two separate lives. They have a working life, where they try to act in a way, that other people recognize  as useful and therefore get rewarded for this form of behavior. They also have a private life where their own interests are paramount. In the working environment, we have accepted to be monitored and controlled. In return, and as compensation for a world in which our own interests are of no importance, the private life should be free and self-determined, and should therefore take place invisible behind closed doors. If something does not belong to the public, but to individuals or groups, who are in an intimate relationship, and they have the freedom to determine unnoticed objects, areas and issues, then we called this once as "private".

This freedom was granted because of the idea, that human beings can be controlled by ideologies and corresponding propaganda activities. In an ideal mass society, industry and consumption should develop in harmony. Over time, people have developed a resistance against propaganda and advertising. However, without fear of drastic restrictions many people develop a life of their own that defies control. The self life of others scares. The idea that we are constantly under threat of criminal acts has become generally established. We feel threatened mainly by people who know how to hide their intentions. Only a permanent and comprehensive control of all suspicious facts would prevent us from danger. We would rather forgo any freedom than to live with the risk of becoming victims of crime. More and more areas of our urban environments are equipped with technological tools that are able to observe us. These digital eyes, ears, and motion sensors are linked via networks with data centers, which strive to analyze our behavior to draw conclusions. In the past images had to be monitored and evaluated by people. Meanwhile, software has taken this work. It plays a minor role if we are truly understood: We will have to care if we are getting classified as desired.

Whosoever draws conclusions, evaluations and judgments, has an impact on the real world. We are no longer the individuals that try to understand the world. Our bodies are under observation. We transform ourselves into a machine-readable surface. So that the world responds in the way we hope, we will have to bring our behaviors in harmony with the algorithms of software-tools. To be not misclassified, we are going to live our lives in a more and more expressive form.

To retain a sense of freedom, we already show a tendency to become blind by reducing perception to digital image windows. Whenever we use digital networks today we open a window through which our activities can be monitored very closely.

We have again created a second life. Here we live not a private, rather a public but virtual life. The virtual world wants to be fed with bits and pieces of information and appetizers from the so-called real world. The need for impressive scenarios therefore increases. And who has no secrets, has nothing to disclose. The screen shields everything that does not fit into its grid.