As we may become....

Juliane Rockwell

Initial Thesis Proposal Presentation

10/11/2007

DMST 4850: Professor Russell

Digital Revolution: As We May Become

Conceptual Foundation:

In a world where knowledge is power, and power is the ability to bring change, one becomes completely dependent on information in order to effect any change in oneself or one's environment. Unfortunately, access to information has been centralized and guarded throughout history effectively stratifying the human population in a hierarchy of selectively shared knowledge. Those at the bottom of the hierarchy are subject to the whims of those at the top with more information (who can effect the most change). This has been the case throughout socio-cultural history as well as biological history (organisms with more info or specialized info stored in their DNA possess adaptations for fitness that other organisms might lack i.e. a human vs. a chimpanzee). In the modern world this results in monopolistic institutions, war, famine, environmental complacence, extinction of species, loss of entire ecosystems, atomic holocausts, etc. As humans become more advanced in the way they communicate and share knowledge, we begin to see an end to this trend that has dominated 10,000 years of civilization.

In the millenniums before civilization the caliber of knowledge at the time was widespread. With the exception of specialized knowledge related to the division of labor (men hunting, women gathering, shaman's magics), all knowledge was generally shared throughout a community. With the Internet and communications technologies becoming more widely available, one begins to see a leveling of the playing field. Though specialized study and theorizing might be illusive to the lay person, a specialists work is still at the mercy of adoption or rejection and choice of the general public (as was explored by "Personal, Portable, Pedestrian" by Ito, Okabe, and Matsuda in which the specialists designing keitai mobile technologies discovered that research into the social structures of Japan were more helpful for development than technical frameworks). The average individual is also able to ascertain the general concepts of any technology though a simple web search. Yet this is a far cry from being able to share knowledge without limit. This vision is not unique to the 21st century. Vannevar Bush established one of the first sustained meditations on the subject in his article "As We May Think" published in 1945. He states "Science has provided the swiftest communication between individuals; it has provided a record of ideas and has enabled man to manipulate and to make extracts from that record so that knowledge evolves and endures throughout the life of a race rather than that of an individual." He was not far off in his projections. In fact, he may have underestimated humans in their ability to make all knowledge universal. There are already advancements being made in this direction with semantic web development. XML (extensible markup language) allows data to be labeled and categorized through a universal nomenclature that will significantly speed up interactions and the viewing of related information (Vladimir Geroimenko). Such development of technologies that will be usable for decades to come without the planned obsolescence of competing corporations and market manipulation is imperative. This movement also includes the development of sustainable energy. Sustainability is the only logical course for a civilization with any foresight. Industrial technologies are both archaic and destructive, relics being preserved by those who horde knowledge for profit. Many have taken on the task of informing the general public and spreading awareness, but in an age of disinformation, this proves exceedingly difficult.

Another endeavor currently underway, which may lead to an age of universal knowledge, is the reverse engineering of the brain for the development of non-biological intelligence. With processing speeds doubling every year, this may be realized in the next 50 years with immeasurable techno-social ramifications (Kurzweil). Incorporating human pattern recognition with nearly infinite processing power (limited only by the speed of light) and a semantic information mankind will find itself on the brink of total unified knowledge. Though the vision blurs beyond this point, one can not help but ask what can be done now and in the very near future to be prepared for this upheaval of history, knowledge, and power. Throughout the course of this project, many tools will be incorporated for the collection and delivery of the information necessary to be prepared for this revolution.

Project Goals:
The goal of this thesis is to ascertain the conditions necessary for sustainable design in all fields related to the exchange of information. This takes precedence over any other advancement as our rate of communication is a limiting factor in all other fields of study. Concepts and frameworks of semantic web will be used as a starting point for current technological implementations in the sustainable direction. An attempt at ascertaining the bio-cultural consequences of non-biological intelligence will be made as well, along with an attempt to understand the biological and technical mechanisms of such developments. This will all be supported by analyzing the self-organizing nature of matter in relation to the evolution of data, information, and knowledge in order to gain a holistic material insight of this impending revolution.

Outline/Timeline:
Fall 2007

• Begin process of collecting relevant material for research.

• Gather ideas for initial thesis proposal.

• Determine framework with which to layout structure of thesis.

• Consider digital element of project.

• Complete thesis proposal.

Winter 2008

• Choose thesis committee.

• Continue to research and collect relevant works.

• Solidify thesis proposal.

• Present thesis proposal to committee.

Spring 2008

• Read a ton–o-books.

• Continue consulting committee members on thesis projections/progress.

• Submit thesis for final review.

Abstract:
History is written in the cosmos. Since the dawn of time, raw bits of datum (sub-atomic particles, atoms, molecules) have been shaped, accumulated, and organized by historical processes. These processes have formed new patterns with ever-increasing complexity. Each new and novel process uses the order and developments of the previous historical epoch to achieve new heights of integration (constituent compounds make up amino acids which combine and fold into proteins which provide the form and function for organisms). Humans have also conglomerated, giving rise to the orders of society, culture, and technology. Though these processes progress down a seemingly linear time-line, they culminate in emergent dynamic ways that are far from linear. Transient states of stability are achieved, the lifetime of each state being determined by how much energy flows into the system. Spurts of growth are followed by extended lag periods although the rising complexity of these systems is both telescopic and exponential in that there is less lag time between each acceleration. Each acceleration is marked by an increase in energy flow (i.e. a reducing atmosphere was created by algae using solar energy, the agricultural revolution was fueled by food energy and the industrial revolution was supported by fossil fuel energy). Throughout the history of matter/energy, one can recognize systems and novel processes which are self-catalytic and self-sustaining. These accelerated systems are always marked by dynamic decentralized networks creating the phenomenon of mutual enhancement (positive feedback) in which the constituents produce synergistic effects above and beyond the sum of their parts (DeLanda 14). This is the goal of sustainability.

At the height of the information age, humans find themselves in a unique position to significantly increase our synergy with our environment and technology. At every stage of matter's development (on earth), solar energy has been transformed, by one novel process after the next, (whether it be photosynthetic algae, sun-fed agriculture, or age old ferns retrieved after millions of years of geologic compression) into the energy necessary for another bifurcation (adaptation or transition to another higher form of stability). With the accelerated increase in technology and overall human knowledge provided by the dynamic mesh-works of the Internet and other communications, humans may be able to achieve a mutual stimulation amongst our economy, ecology, and equity resulting in new heights of prosperity, eco-literacy, and justice. Humans across the world are already uniting under these key ideas with a vision for the future that fosters a lot more hope than our current course. With an exponentially increasing world population, short-sightedness can not be afforded. In order to progress to the next order or epoch of evolution, humans must teach themselves how to meet their needs now without hindering or obliterating the ability of future generations to do the same. The increase in fossil fuel consumption in China alone will demand "80 million barrels of oil a day above current world production" (Edwards 2) by 2015. The industrial complex will inevitably fall by the wayside simply because it is not sustainable.

Sustainable technologies (such as solar/wind energy), combined with the fervor of the ever-multiplying number of decentralized visionary groups and networks, produces all the dynamics necessary for an auto-catalytic development or revolution (DeLanda 34). The implications of such a revolution stretch far beyond the sum of its parts. With the vision of sustainability in mind, one can not help but look to the next order of things. The Internet itself will undergo massive transformation as linear static data is replaced with dynamic semantic organization where the data itself is labeled and categorized according to a universal and sustainable nomenclature (Geroimenko). This will make it the perfect nest for other technologies already in development such as ubiquitous (objective/locational) computation and the reverse engineering of the brain (non-biological intelligence) with hardware and software capable of emulating the human brain becoming available by 2030 (Kurzweil 25) and communications being extended to include objects, buildings, or even nanotechnology, one is forced to contemplate the ramifications of being constantly linked to all available human knowledge (all forms of media included).

Being seated at the bend of an exponential growth trend blurs things as the line becomes almost vertical. Computation speeds double every year and technological advancements have been made in the past 20 years equivalent to those made the entire 20^th century. With things moving this fast one can not afford to blink. The lines drawn between separate fields of study will also blur as previous orders and developments are encompassed and accelerated by superhuman non-biological intelligence and universal semantic communications. With humans and technology as its constituents, matter/energy is on the brink of another inclusive epiphany. The cultural and social ramifications of this development, or singularity, (Kurzweil) are more than difficult to gage. This thesis will be an attempt at exactly that with hopes of not only informing but empowering the reader by examining multiple related facets of this phenomenon. If power is the ability to bring change either to oneself or one's environment, one must be prepared to act in a world that is changing faster than biological evolution permits.

Bibliography:
The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift. Edwards, Andres R.
Visualizing the Semantic Web: XML-based Internet and Information Visualization. Geroimenko, Vladimir & Chen, Chaomei (Eds).
A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History. De Landa, Manuel.
Society of the Spectacle. Debord, Guy.
The Singularity is Near. Kurzweil, Ray.
As We May Think. Bush, Vannevar.

Ambient Intelligence, Wireless Networking, and Ubiquitous Computing. Vasilaqkos, Athanasios & Pedryca, Witold (Eds).