For this week's blog, I decided to sit and have a think about John Barlow's article, "A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace", where he introduces to us to Cyberspace - "the new home of the mind, which grows itself through collective actions". It really is the home of the mind, because the web is what we (- being thoughtful, intelligent and creative human beings) made it what it is today.
It seems like such a phenomenal, idealistic situation - we have managed to form and manipulate something that is quickly becoming one of the most successful industries in the history of our world. Full of so many lifetimes worth of information and entertainment - there really isn't much that the tech-savvy user cannot find or unravel online, with all of the most effective tools right at our fingertips. We can search, upload, download, stream, browse, buy, sell, play, email, blog, video call, voice chat, and simply create + edit a myriad of content... But how long will this list carry on?
On the darker side, we are having to reform new rules and laws to attempt to keep our cyber world controlled - whether its addressing privacy issues for the social network users, being security savvy for every online shopper, watching out for copyright infringment, or even just avoiding the average online scam... With our technological capabilities ever-growing and changing, my contemplative question for this week is - will the cyber world one day become too much for us to handle? May we accidentally fall into a downward spiral (perhaps for progress' sake)? And who will manage it when it does, if the world has no greater authority than ourselves? (I just hope it doesn't turn out like iRobot...) I guess for now, we can only wonder...
Over and out for this week. Leave your thoughts with me.
It is scary to think that our minds created Cyberspace, a place where physical bodies do not live. As Ted said in the lecture: Cyberspace is pure mind. Pure imagination. Pure information.
ReplyDeletePeople are supposed to be independent yet we depend on the Internet for so much. Where does it stop? I guess in a way it is just a game of what came first? The chicken or the egg? The internet need us to create content and then we need to search for that content. Even thinking about this is making my head spin. But a very thought-provoking blog Olivia.
I think society will adapt to self-regulate itself in the cyber world. Even today to a certain extent we are self-regulating online. Basic things like forum rules get your IP address banned if you break them. And it's only the cyber-hardcore who then find a work around to this.
ReplyDeleteWhen ever we think of the future of technology, we scare ourselves into thinking about all the negatives that will come with "cyber freedom". If you went back in time 100 years and explained to someone the freedom of access to information we have via the Internet today, they would consider it just as unmanageable and daunting as we consider the future of today.
Olivia I think you raise several good points, and in regard to your question I both tend to agree and disagree with CJaff. Although I believe self-regulation is necessary and will be effective to an extent, other regulation is and will continue to be necessary to protect ourselves in regard to issues like privacy and copyright. Our reliance on the internet for information and communication has become somewhat scary, and although we all like to think we would be fine without it, the continual growth of its many platforms and applications is astounding. For example, I do an online tutorial. Not, a recorded lecture, or me catching up via the net, it is actually held (and marked) online. Enough said.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Olivia! I'm very curious to see how the future will be laid out...who knows it might turn out to be like iRobot or even worse...the terminator!
ReplyDeleteAt the moment it seems that laws are still trying to catch up and at the same time cope with the new cyber world. If the cyber world is going to be managed there is a great deal of work ahead for those who are sitting in parliament! But then again which government has the right to manage the internet. The internet is accessible to the world yet each country would have different laws. Unless the UN creates a body to future manage the cyber world who knows how the it will be played out....
Very interesting thought. Is SkyNet coming? It is interesting to see how other media have become regulated over the years and see what it meant for society.
ReplyDeleteDespite the uproar it seems about the perverted nature of TV and sexual content available, early television was actually a lot more raunchy than that of today. (so says the Gruen Transfer). Will we eventually live in a world where people have 4 bank accounts with very little money in each just in case one is attacked they still have some of their money safe?
It really depends on what you mean by "what we can handle", since although it is a fast paced world, I'm sure a 10 year old knows more about computers than I do, so the generations that grow with computers will have different expectations and skills to "control" cyberspace. But the scale of the internet means that we have very little means today to control it, but who knows what the future will bring.
I have never thought of this before, but your blog nearly made me think that maybe internet regulation wouldn't be so bad.
ReplyDeleteI think the internet is already sort-of controlled, I mean, we have cops out there trying to track down paedofiles, and people who mean to harm others. I'm not even scared of giving out my card details online anymore due to insurance that the bank gives me.
For now I think we are alright, but maybe regulation will be unavoidable, and maybe our identities will have to be revealed online when enough becomes enough.
I think that regulation is going to necessary for Internet usage in the future. Of course there is a line to be drawn over how much regulation we need but that is a whole other issue. As you say, Olivia, it already is becoming a huge issue for security, privacy and copyright issues. The problem is that the Internet grows and develops at such a fast pace that laws and regulations have no chance of keeping up.
ReplyDeleteBen, I think it's interesting that you say that our identities might have to be revealed, as that raises the whole issue of privacy and security. Wow, this is such a huge concept with so many avenues to explore. I'm with Arianne... very curious to see what will happen in the future. What's exciting is that with our degrees we will be a major part of deciding that. Great post.