1. Jaron Lanier argues against cybernetic totalism. What are the key features of cybernetic totalism? What arguments does Lanier offer against it?
Cybernetic totalism, first off, is the view that our technology is progressing inexorably to a state of self-awareness and intelligence. Simply put, it is the belief that one day computers will become more aware and more intelligent than their human counterparts. The idea that one day, just as James Cameron envisioned, computers will eventually over take us in an apocalyptic fashion. Lanier, though sometimes cryptic and hard to understand, makes a strong argument against this notion of total computational takeover. It can sometimes be hard to realize but the only way that computers can evolve is by the human hand. This is Lanier’s argument against cybernetic totalism. We seem to forget sometime that there is, if you will, a man behind the curtain, pulling the strings and advancing technology further and further. Lanier says “computers aren’t even there until someone experiences it”, this is his argument in a nutshell. Until someone makes a conscious decision to run that specific machine, the machine is powerless without a puppet master pulling the strings.
2. What is "lock in" and why does it matter? Make sure that your answer includes technical and cultural/political components.
“Lock in”, Lanier proposes is a theory that once something has already been done or something has been done in a certain way for so long, there really isn’t much more room for improvement. He cites specific examples like, LINUX and MIDI, programs that were so well done and have been used for so long that “lock-in” has taken over.
One example of “lock-in” that serves as a more cultural example than technical is the London subway system also known as the Tube. Sufficient room wasn’t built into the top of the tunnel to allow for AC units to be installed later on. This is “lock-in” at its finest for two reasons. The first, the literal idea that the passengers are “locked-in” a stuffy, hot train car with no AC in the 21st century. The second is the actual definition of “lock-in”. No room for future improvement was thought of in the original idea so now no improvements can be made without a massive overhaul.
3. Why does Lanier think that flat information networks threaten creativity?
(Lanier, 131 – 133)
Flat information networks threaten creativity due to the overwhelming influx of collective sharing. When files are being allowed to be shared at the rate they are sharing then it compromises the worth of the original. Lanier believes that file sharing isn’t a form of stealing. In order to steal, one would need to remove the original and block access to everyone else. This is where file sharing, according to Lanier, doesn’t fall under the category of stealing. Lanier says that file sharing makes copies and then overwhelms the market with invaluable pieces of music, literature, etc. It would be like taking Da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man”, and making hundreds of copies that are all identical. The original copy would not only be lost, but also void of all value because the original copy cannot be distinguished from the copies. Facebook offices can be seen also as a flat network, according to Lanier’s views. The group mentality that Facebook has come to use in their offices represents the idea of a collective society per say. All of the employees at Facebook share a common office space with no one person, including founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, has their own office. Cubicles line the office floor with everyone and anyone sharing ideas and working together. Lanier would despise this way of thinking, thinking that creativity is stifled due to the variation of a flat information network.
4. Why does free choice make stars inevitable? Be as thorough as possible.
(Shirky, Weblogs, Power laws and Inequality)
Free choice, as Shirky describes, leads to an unequal distribution of power. Power comes to those stars just by the amount of time that that particular entity has been around for. The economist Vilfredo Pareto, calls this the "predictable imbalance", where the majority of the wealth (in this case wealth is friends, followers, subscribers) is distributed surprisingly uneven with 20% of the population holding 80% of the world’s wealth”. This same idea can be seen in the world of weblogs. The original blogs that started up around blogging’s first initial launch, the ones that survived, are now the powers holding 80% of the world’s wealth, or, in this case, subscribers, followers and friends.
Free choice makes star inevitable because choice can be monitored by popularity. The more popular that something is, say a restaurant or a local bar, in the online community, means that, in most cases, is positively correlated with how long it’s been in existence. Power laws don’t necessarily explain why the bigger and the best are that way, but when they are placed on a curve, the lower end of the spectrum creates inequality. Shirky explains that “the very act of choosing, spread widely enough and freely enough, creates a power law distribution”, choosing is an act of free will, and free choice, so when free choice is combined with an unfair system, inequalities and stars, are bound to emerge.
5. Several authors (Lovink, Dean, Terranova) criticize the 'late eighties "Californian" mindset'. What is that mindset and why do they criticize it?
(Terranova, 120)
The “late eighties ‘Californian’ mindset” was that of every computer geek who was mesmerized and obsessed with technology during this initial boom of computing. It was the belief that computers/internet can lead to freedom and equality, that with the new advancements in the digital era, that this could lead to a digital utopia. Lanier and all his friends form the Silicon Valley in California seemed to have this view, and why Lanier was so upset in the way that the internet is headed. Lanier envisioned the internet as a place of knowledge and harmony, when in reality it was turned into a place of anonymity and trolls, where the anonymous can turn people against each other. They critize that the mindset of these original creators was almost too naïve and simplistic, the thought that the internet was just going to be a place of free and accessible information was not only optimistic, but also far too simplistic. They wanted the internet to be a place of idea sharing and expansion and well a free, universal medium in which to extend to the world. But from what we know of what the internet is today, the original view has become warped and twisted far from what was its original intention.
6. How does Terranova describe the "mass"? What makes the mass a feature of contemporary network culture? How does the concept of the mass inform or figure in Terranova's critique of the idea of a rational, deliberative public sphere?
(Terranova 134-144, 153, 157)
-Cloud
-Uninformed Masses
-Constant arguing
-You can’t deliberate if you’re a mindless zombie
- Pg 134-144
-They allow for the social entropy
-153 & 157
-Terranova would argue that the noise of the internet has subjected the public sphere.
-People are subjected less and less to the public sphere, the public sphere is becoming less and less transparent.
-People are relying more and more and the masses for information
7. Terranova emphasizes that a cultural politics of information, "as it lives through and addresses the centrality of information transmission, processing, and communication techniques" extends beyond the distinction between signal and noise. It encompasses a wide array of objects and interfaces, choices and designs, that organize our perceptions and influence the transmission and receipt of information/signals. What aspects of contemporary life come to mind? Come up with a vivid, detailed example to illustrate Terranova's point. Be sure to attend to what she calls the "level of distracted perception . . [that] informs habits and percepts and regulates the speed of a body by plugging it into a field of action." In your answer, begin with a schematic account formulated in terms of Shannon's diagram and then add to and enrich that schematic with more atmosphere and detail. After you have a detailed example in mind, consider the political implications and for whom: police, surveillance, or state apparatuses? for those seeking to resist or change a political formation? for the general field or norm that establishes the base point or expectations for political action (that is, the level of everyday habit and normal life)?
-Her note was lost in the noise
-Telephone game
-Scandal
-Downward spiral ds
8. According to Terranova, some specific features of the architecture of the internet induce divergence and differentiation. What are these specific features? How are the challenges met? And, what features or qualities does addressing divergence and incompatibility give to the internet?
(Terranova 61)
-internet is pulling people apart
-Everything coexists with each other
-More niches are being developed by posting more information
-More information that we put on the internet the more information that becomes available
-New point of view resulting from research
- Niche networks
-All the different networks on the internet
-They are available because we facilitate them
-It’s all connected like a web
-Archipelago of interests
9. What is the decline of symbolic efficiency? Why does it matter?
(Dean, 5-8)
The decline of symbolic efficiency, or the collapse of “the Big Other”, is something that you see every day. Dean elaborates on this idea by providing the example of blogging. Dean says that blogs convey no real tone, voice inflection or any other of the indications that come with speaking face to face. The decline of symbolic efficiency leads to the masses misinterpreting what an individual, talking to a specific group, means. When someone who has no knowledge or background information of what the conversation is about stumbles upon a blog that requires “terms and styles of expression” feelings and attitudes can become skewed. Things that “make sense to an ‘in-group’” can often offend people who aren’t part of that group. This matters because people’s thoughts can be lost on one other just because of a gap in translation. One may lose the point of another through the discourse of the disembodied internet voice.
10. What are the key features of blogs? What do they have in common with search engines?
(Dean 41, 43, 47, 48)
There are many different key features of blogs that share a common ground with those of search engines. They are easy access points of information, a trust worthy way to guide you through the chaotic nature of the internet. They allow people to share ideas and they take an idea and they can turn it into something much more. Search engines first off, take the vast amounts of information that the internet encompasses and tries, best as possible, to collect it all in one place. Before the days of search engines information was out there, it just wasn’t as accessible and as easy to obtain as it is now. This is where blogs seem to have a common place with search engines. Blogs today, range from political opinions to how to maintain your Chia Pet. This is a main, important feature of blogs. They take the interests of everyone and people are able to shift through what they want to read/talk about.
11. What are the differences between the ways that cinema and networked media produce subjects? (Dean, 70, 71, 79 – 81)
The ways in which cinema and network media produce subjects are completely different. To access networked media is to complete a solely individualistic path. When you access networked media you are, or can be, totally isolated from the world around you. When you access that particular form of media you are accessing it through a medium that grants you total anonymity and freedom form ever sharing your ideas with anyone else. Even though the world of networked media is supposed to bring us together, through its own devices and access points, it’s made us totally anonymous. Cinema is a completely different story. When you go to watch a film at a movie theater, you know what to expect. You expect to see other people who are going to see that movie as well. This is what separates networked media from cinema, singularity. When watching a movie everyone is there for the same reason and you can see the faces of people with similar interests. It’s a shared experience with everyone else in that particular showing. Even if one of the people who saw the film goes how and blogs about it, the initial experience was shared with other people, thus separating networked media from cinema.
12. How do affective networks capture users?
(Dean, 114, 134)
A key feature of affective networks, according to Dean, is their ability to capture users. Affective networks rely heavily on the user based side of their interface to provide them with information and input to further their development. The more that the users of that site contributes, the more information is available to the group. This is where the “hive” mentality of the internet is used. Places like Facebook, MySpace, BlogSpot and Twitter, are all prime examples of how this system works. Without user input, these places like Facebook and MySpace would have no way of evolving and thus, fail. We, the users, are essentially keeping Facebook alive with our activity. Everyone with a Facebook account is an employee of Facebook who just isn’t getting paid for their ideas.
No comments:
Post a Comment