CYBERSPACE. Definitions Popper s worlds What is special with cyberspace? Designing cyberspace

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1 CYBERSPACE Definitions Popper s worlds What is special with cyberspace? Designing cyberspace Janlert, L.-E. (2005b). e idea of Cyberspace. Report UMINF Umeå University, Department of computing science Benedikt s principles Body, environment, thinking Information technology revolutions and their effects Knowledge organization Information society, changed knowledge conditions, new premium values Pointers to some interesting but not required reading Benedikt, Michael (1991) Cyberspace: some proposals, in M. Benedikt (ed.) Cyberspace: First steps. Cambridge: MIT Press. Gibson, William (1984) Neuromancer. New York: Ace Books. Ong, Walter (1982) Orality and literacy: the technologizing of the word. London: Methuen.

2 Definition (of the vision)»cyberspace is a globally networked, computer-sustained, computer-accessed, and computer-generated, multidimensional, artificial, or virtual reality. In this reality, to which every computer is a window, seen or heard objects are neither physical nor, necessarily, representations of physical objects but are, rather, in form, character and action, made up of data, of pure information. is information derives in part from the operations of the natural, physical world, but for the most part it derives from the immense traffic of information that constitute human enterprise in science, art, business, and culture. [...] In cyberspace, information-intensive institutions and businesses have a form, identity, and working reality... that is counterpart and different to the form, identity, and working reality they have in the physical world. So too with individuals. Egos and multiple egos, roles and functions, have a new existence in cyberspace. Here no individual is appreciated by virtue only, if at all, of their physical appearance, location, or circumstances. [...] Cyberspace has a geography, a physics, a nature, and a rule of human law.«(michael Benedikt, 1991)

3 The worlds of Karl Popper World 1: e physical world World 2: Our conscious, subjective experiences; our inner life World 3: Objective knowledge: e contents of books, libraries, computer memories, etc. so objective can be understood as knowledge in the form of objects, not depending on any subject (person) Cyberspace can be seen as the latest continuation of World 3 and much (most?) of the old content of World 3 will be made accessible from cyberspace in one way or several; transferred or transcribed to cyberspace

4 What is special with cyberspace? (partly in distinction to other parts of World 3) Cyberspace is (in the vision) total (connected) a single, connected space common the same space is in principle open to everyone; there is just one cyberspace objective (reality) it goes on with you or without you; it is always on active and interactive a world with history it changes with time; actions leave traces inhabitable lightweight

5 Cyberspace is total (connected) It is closely connected more than for instance the world of books the ease and speed of accessing different parts of the space makes the difference Differences and barriers in time and space are bridged Remaining barriers: Language Differences in knowledge and experiences, values, etc.

6 Cyberspace is common e same world is in principle shared by everyone like the world of books and the world of movies although very diversified and very specialized in parts because of its enormous size, the commonality lies in structure, rather than content You can see and do things together not like in the world of books similar to concerts, theater, conferences, and exhibitions (but so far realized only in special parts)

7 Cyberspace is objective (like the world of books:) Objective in Popper s sense It exists independently, whether you are in it or not things will look (more or less) the same as the last time you entered You don t switch it on and off

8 Cyberspace is active and interactive (unlike the world of books:) Dynamic representations music, video, animations You can have a living dialogue with the information producer consumer border also softening or dissolving You can experience abstract concepts through concrete interactive simulations Active and interactive through other active people Engaging, concrete and situation-dependent whereas (ordinary) fact books favor distance, abstraction, universality

9 Cyberspace has a history A direct continuation of the previously existing world of information Information on old IT media will eventually be transferred or made available ere will exist bridging technology able to translate information with old formats to the current format Cyberspace as a medium is evolving much faster than for instance the book Footsteps of the cyberspace wanderer are close to permanent Kant s imperative with a twist? Make sure that everything you do holds for critical inspection today and forever! Note: information historization as indicated above exists also in modern software end-user customization and adaptation

10 Cyberspace is a place you can (almost) live in You can do almost anything (?) Work Leisure Read, write, communicate Create texts, pictures, shapes Dig for information Do business Engage in politics Create new products Play, be entertained Be cultural Search for jobs and friends what else? (well, bad things, for instance)

11 Cyberspace is lightweight Consists of weightless ideas rather than heavy, unwieldy, materia surely, the computers and cables need to be there but they are not conceived as part of the world Minimal step between planning and action trial and error; UNDO Surely, constructions of thought cost time and money as well, but the emphasis is shifted from material costs to costs of thinking

12 Designing cyberspace Cyberspace is an artificial world not obeying any given laws of physics or biology or judicial laws that may be more attuned to ordinary physics, biology, etc. than we are aware of besides being the products of a long, earthly history consider e.g., the many and varied consequences of something as simple as gravity: it has shaped our lives, habits, cognition (e.g. recognition of faces and facial expressions), laws, and more We may in principle design it to our liking it offers a kind of utopian possibility somewhat like discovering or rather inventing a new continent But if we discard the ordinary laws of nature and society, what should we use instead? it is easier to copy old ways than inventing new we may not be aware of, able to imagine, alternative possibilities, and their consequences At this time, the building process actually looks rather anarchic, like building an ant hill the architecture develops, emerges in a bottom-up, free-competition process; this is approved by many Some have proposed a more systematic, disciplined approach somewhat akin to urban planning but of a much vaster scope Michael Benedikt is an example

13 Benedikt s principles Exclusion No two things may be in the same place at the same time Maximum Exclusion Choose (extrinsic) dimensions that minimize violations of the Exclusion principle Indifference e world is indifferent to the user Scale Motion through a cyberspace takes place at a rate inversely proportional to the complexity of the space through which it occurs Transit Movement must traverse intervening space and involve some cost Personal visibility One may not enter a space invisibly Commonality Shared spaces exist by the consensus of those sharing them and imply shared perceptions

14 The body, the environment, and the thinking e body and the environment affects the way we think according to modern theories in cognitive science and artificial intelligence e.g., situated action, activity theory, distributed cognition, echological psychology (Gibson) What new, different ways of thinking will our life with new media bring? e.g., there are many theories and studies on the effect of computer games

15 Information technology as (soft) infrastructure e infrastructure of cyberspace is not just an infrastructure for production but even more for consumption recreation education culture It is not (just) the computers and the cables that are the infrastructure for cyberspace it is procedures and institutions: our ways of using the technology i.e. immaterial things Note: at this point, personal knowledge and habits is likely to change more slowly than the hardware we may have to change our notion of infrastructure as something long term and stable or perhaps start viewing mental infrastructure as the more fundamental

16 Revolutions in information tech ~ ??? years ago: Speech technology ~50 000?? years ago: Picture technology ~5 000 years ago: Writing technology started the civilization process ~500 years ago: Printing technology started industrialism ~50 years ago: Modern information technology so what is going on now?

17 Information technological effects on knowledge and its distribution General effects to expect from major changes in information technology Redistribution and restructuring of the total body of knowledge and information, of access paths, communication patterns, knowledge processes (e.g., how to gain knowledge, transfer knowledge, etc.) Some old knowledge and information is marginalized or disappears; much new knowledge and information is added directly and indirectly Changes in the attitude to knowledge and thinking; changes in the methods, behaviors, and values concerning cognitive tasks e specific effects will of course depend on the specific properties of the new information technology Changes are of course also influenced by the existing societal and cultural context More indirect and long term effects are hard to predict, as with most new technology e.g., effects of cars, oil industry, electricity

18 Dimensions of knowledge organization Vertical organisation distribution over mind body tools objects environment organization society Horisontal organization (at different levels) distribution over persons organizations institutions geography e.g., in matters of access, individualization, producer consumer relations, etc. Modality organization distribution over different forms: speech writing picture smell rules behaviors programs interactive artifacts

19 The information explosion Growth of number of scientific journals from 1650 to 1950 Growth of amount of stored data in MB per capita from 1996 to 2006

20 Internet Usage in Europe EUROPE Internet % Users, Latest (2007 Est.) (Penetration) ( ) Data Iceland 299, , % 0.1 % 53.6 % Sweden 9,107,795 6,890, % 2.1 % 70.2 % Portugal 10,539,564 7,782, % 2.4 % % Netherlands 16,447,682 12,060, % 3.7 % % Denmark 5,438,698 3,762, % 1.1 % 92.9 % Luxembourg 463, , % 0.1 % % Switzerland 7,523,024 5,097, % 1.6 % % Norway 4,657,321 3,140, % 1.0 % 42.7 % Faroe Islands 49,760 33, % 0.0 % 1,000.0 % Finland 5,275,491 3,286, % 1.0 % 70.5 % Turkey 75,863,600 16,000, % 5.1 % % Bosnia-Herzegovina 4,672, , % 0.3 % 13,471.4 % Russia 143,406,042 28,000, % 8.7 % % Macedonia 2,056, , % 0.1 % 1,208.9 % Montenegro 665, , % 0.0 % n/a Albania 3,087, , % 0.1 % 18,748.0 % Moldova 3,727, , % 0.2 % 2,100.0 % Serbia 10,087,181 1,400, % 0.4 % % Vatican City State % 0.0 % 0.0 % Ukraine 45,833,977 5,278, % 1.6 % 2,539.1 % TOTAL Europe 809,624, ,853, % % %

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23 Information society Information society has its focus of attention on information (wide sense) and cognitive processes (wide sense) just as agricultural society focused on food and organic processes industrial society focused on material products and mechanical/chemical processes e economical conditions are different from industrial society development costs dominate production and distribution costs are marginal It is a problem for society, trade, legislation, etc. to refocus on largely immaterial information products Since information in many forms is so easy to copy we have a situation in which new information and creativity will be appreciated much higher than before What do you need to know and which cognitive skills will be valued the most?

24 Changed knowledge conditions in information society Constant thinking, rethinking rather than following rules and routines, typical of industrial society Speed e expansion of the information horizon in time and space including attempts to detect changes as early as possible e increasing impermanence of knowledge and information cp. the notion of lifelong learning Instant knowledge application little opportunity for practice Parallelism need to keep track of many things at the same time

25 New premier cognitive values in information society We need a mental infrastructure that can carry us through continuous change but what should it look like? Understanding and problem solving ability becomes more important when pace and access increase as opposed to simply following instructions many tasks will be done for the first (and maybe only) time Critical ability, good judgement becomes more important than ever when we cannot go by standard rules so often Creativity becomes essential when production costs approach zero how do new media encourage and support creativity? creative sustainability becomes crucial i.e., making sure that creative solutions and products support and encourage future creativity (rather than lay a heavy hand on individual thinking and acting)