4.15.2025

My hearing is different here. Scrapes and scuffs on the sidewalks but it's only me. The echo is disorienting and it's not only outside. This morning I heard giggles and a techy spongy noise like a chord that plays when you start up a device. They sounded close but not threatening.

I am interested in the science of auditory hallucination. Or I am curious about learning to echolocate like bats and some blind folks do.

If these sounds are real, the ones in the apartment where I'm staying, then they're coming from any of the three units adjacent to mine, which suggests they can hear me as well, which means they can hear when I talk to the language owl or curse when I burn myself on the convection coffee maker or make any of the other less flattering noises I make.

It's like a sonic version of Bentham's Panopticon. That's a prison where the principle means of behavioral control is inherent in the design. The structure is a column and all the cells face the center. Cuts down on the number of guards or cameras needed to keep the population in line.

There was some talk a while back about how the presence of a camera in everyone's pocket would lead to better behavior by cops and citizens. I'm not sure that's held true. If it is the alternative is a fucking Bosch painting. Turns out some people are into being watched at their worst. Turns out even more don't even care.