Mystery is a mirage that dissolves on close inspection

Evidence

Because he owes his divine attributes to his invisibility, he must always hide himself from the eyes of the prisoners; he lives in the constant fear that the prisoners will find out that he really does not exist. — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 81 (#epitomizes, via linked claim)

But echo suggests a still deeper mystery. Acousticians will explain that the reflection of a sound off a distant surface is simply a case of the original wave bouncing back, the angles of incidence and reflection being equal. In order to understand this effect one may project a mirror image of the original sound deep behind the surface, at exactly the same distance and angle from the surface as the original. In other words, every reflection implies a doubling of the sound by its own ghost, hidden on the other side of the reflecting surface. This is the world of alter-egos, following and pacing the real world an instant later, mocking its follies. — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 717 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The panoptic inspector must hide for fear his fictional divinity will be exposed — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 81; Every echo implies a ghostly alter-ego hidden behind the reflecting surface — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 717

Broader Connections

• The panoptic inspector must hide for fear his fictional divinity will be exposed #epitomizes (0.85) — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 81
• Every echo implies a ghostly alter-ego hidden behind the reflecting surface #exemplifies (0.80) — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 717