A specific panopticon built around James Randi’s famous One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge (a prize for anyone who could
demonstrate a paranormal ability under agreed scientific conditions). Even after the challenge
officially ended, its logic persists as a disciplinary tool: believers are told “go claim the
million dollars” as a rhetorical weapon, implying that if they cannot meet that impossible standard, their claims are worthless. The One Million Dollar Challenge Panopticon normalizes the demand for adversarial, public, and often humiliating “tests,” while ignoring that many phenomena are not replicable on demand or suited to lab conditions. Its gaze ensures that any discussion of the paranormal is immediately derailed by the million‑dollar taunt.
Example: “Every time someone mentioned
telepathy in the forum, a chorus replied ‘where’s your
million dollars?’—the One Million Dollar Challenge Panopticon, using a defunct prize to shut down
conversation.”