sweet fruit cybernetics [calarts, spring 2006]
Smart Mobs, File Sharing, Social Nets, and Folksonomies:
The Sweet Fruit of Cybernetics
course overview
Cybernetics, as described by Norbert Weiner, is the study of communication and control mechanisms in systems both animal and mechanical. This course will explore how this branch of systems design informs today’s most exciting and disruptive technologies. What makes Google’s search engine superior to the others? How does Amazon recommend titles to us? Why would a Friendster-recommended date have more potential than somebody you might meet in a coffeeshop? Why might you expect better information from Wikipedia than from the Encyclopædia Britannica? We will consider how the revolutionary benefits of these systems derive from accretions of simple interactions, how these methods may be used to uncover deep structures, and consider some of the dangers inherent in self-regulating systems.
Services such as Google, Amazon (and even Friendster to some degree) appear to possess organization and authority we associate with command and control. However, this authority is in fact the opposite of top-down government. The authority manifested by these systems is the result of aggregated self-interest. This authority springs from atomic interactions. This authority is most accurate when it is most plentiful. These systems have made possible authority which inverts a fundamental precepts of government.
The disruptive power of these systems is implied in their composition. There is no central authority that defines the relationship of one part to another: the hierarchy is defined strictly by the interaction between atoms within the system, and they are most successful when burdened. Structure emerges from the sum of all interactions. Patterns are the accretion of repeated interactions. Hierarchy is measured by the total accretion of relationships. Wisdom is the deep structure of these systems. Command and control are quite literally granted to the mob.
A second disruption starts with the inversion of supply and demand fostered by File Sharing. Folksonomies increase supply based on demand without the costs attached in capitalist markets. The friction of materialism is absent from these systems, information and other digital “material” are traded as freely as the network allows. Interestingly, the network has evolved systems to increase the availability of bits as demand increases: every participant is compelled to contribute as many or more bits as she has consumed. This is a clear inversion of the law of scarcity which drives prices and production in capital markets.
We will study the history of cybernetics, of systems design, of social networks, peer architectures, artificial intelligence, and the resulting practical technologies we know today. We will investigate the disruptiveness of these technologies, and ways in which these techniques may be employed in artwork. We will investigate some of the dangers inherent in frictionless systems, have a look at the RIAA’s case against Napster, and compare the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows bridge. Compare these logical systems to living systems, and look at the frontiers of artificial intelligence including cellular automata, complex systems and swarm intelligence.
DEFINITIONS
Smart Mob is a form of social coordination made possible by personal communication devices (typically wireless). The term was first used by Howard Rheingold to explain the technologically-mediated protests organized as part of the anti-globalization movement.
File Sharing is the practice of participating in a peer network for the purpose of locating and exchanging digital materials, typically MP3s (compressed audio) and software.
Social Networks are maps of the relationships between individuals. Social networks operate on many levels, from individuals to nations.
Folksonomy is an awkward term coined by information architect Thomas Vander Wal to define hierarchical systems defined from the bottom up by the folks that use them. Folksonomies are a significant new development in the field of cybernetics and artificial intelligence. These systems are democratic communities that reveal a web of serendipitous links in exchange for the relative ordering implicit in existing links, and/or volunteered with freeform categorization. Imagine a continuous system built from granular interactions and self-description, and you will have the basis of a folksonomy. A collection of new tools have been developed based on personal folksonomy. By analyzing a collection of notes it is possible to statistically reveal deep structures within your own thinking. Final projects will be determined by using this software.
READINGS
Norbert Weiner
Steven Johnson
Manuel De Landa
Steven Wolfram
Susan Blakemore
Howard Rhiengold