BS: If the Internet were in charge

Subject: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: Donuel
Date: 24 May 16 - 11:34 AM

Garbage in&out aside, if an independent Internet evolved, be it mechanistic or imbued with beingness,
what would be the first things it would annihilate, excise or delete?

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: Stu
Date: 24 May 16 - 12:04 PM

Brussels sprouts.

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: G-Force
Date: 24 May 16 - 01:42 PM

Grammar?

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: Donuel
Date: 24 May 16 - 02:18 PM

porn?

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: Greg F.
Date: 24 May 16 - 03:13 PM

Ah, but the "Internet" and "social[sic] media" ARE in charge! That's why things are so bloody fooked up.

Things are in the saddle, and ride mankind.

       -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: Donuel
Date: 24 May 16 - 03:34 PM

Emerson really?

Thanks Greg.

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: Amos
Date: 24 May 16 - 03:40 PM

The Internet is a technologically-driven condition, caused by huge numbers of communications being interchanged and responded to at near-light speeds.

As a condition, there is no "it" there, and "it" certainly cannot be "in charge" of anything, since being in charge implies an operational sense of responsibility. A sense of responsibility is something that is only found in individuals.

A

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: Donuel
Date: 24 May 16 - 05:30 PM

Well sure I know that Terminator 1's Sky Net is fiction and that Rupert Murdoch's Sky Net was real. The reality of machine consciousness, defined by real humans being unable to differentiate which is real, is said to be a couple decades away. Consciousness by more stringent standards is also close according to Kurzweil.

What do they call the arrival of machine consciousness, I forget.

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: Amos
Date: 24 May 16 - 06:40 PM

When machine consciousness arrives, it will NEVER forget. Fortunately that isn't likely to happen. What may happen is that artificial intelligence will increase in speed and capacity until it rivals and/or exceeds human intelligence in certain fields. Roy Kurzweil embraces the term the Singularity, which was popularized by Vernor Vinge in his 1993 essay "The Coming Technological Singularity" to describe the point when advanced made by artificial intelligence will outstrip human ability to understand it.. See this description of his 2006 book on The Singularity.

A

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: Donuel
Date: 24 May 16 - 07:58 PM

whoa
I am filled with an anxiety of mixed feelings like foreboding and elation.

Unlike a lawyer I did not consciously know the answer to the initial question regarding an advanced conscious internet.

I know I am past denial but not yet past acceptance. I'm going to need more time to envision this future I saw being born decades ago.
Its not about approval but the change in direction and source of wisdom.

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 May 16 - 09:14 PM

Notes (from Wikipedia, of course) on McLuhan's "Global Village":

On the Internet, physical distance is even less of a hindrance to the real-time communicative activities of people, and therefore social spheres are greatly expanded by the openness of the web and the ease at which people can search for online communities and interact with others who share the same interests and concerns. Therefore, this technology fosters the idea of a conglomerate yet unified global community. According to McLuhan, the enhanced "electric speed in bringing all social and political functions together in a sudden implosion has heightened human awareness of responsibility to an intense degree." Increased speed of communication and the ability of people to read about, spread, and react to global news quickly, forces us to become more involved with one another from various social groups and countries around the world and to be more aware of our global responsibilities. Similarly, web-connected computers enable people to link their web sites together. This new reality has implications for forming new sociological structures within the context of culture. Contemporary analysts question the causes of changes in community and its consequences some potentially new sociological structure. Most of them have pointed out the fact that the increased velocity of transactions has fostered interactional density, making social networks a technical catalyst for social change. Across the global village people have reached out and transcended their neighborhood. They are involved in complex community networks stretching across cities, nations, and oceans. Yet the ease with which telecommunications connect friends of friends may also increase the density of interconnections within already existing social clusters. Therefore, the global village's implications on sociological structures are yet to be found, whether it fosters cultural exchanges and openness or not.

McLuhan said that it never occurred to him that the "global village" would be tranquil.

You might also read Teilhard de Chardin's Phenomenon of Man for a discussion of the "Omega Point." Although (being a priest) he approaches the topic from a theological perspective many of the ideas similar to McLuhan's hypothetical village.

Whether or not humanity can deal with what it has wrought is another topic altogether.

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: Mr Red
Date: 25 May 16 - 03:24 AM

When machine consciousness arrives, it will NEVER forget

Hmmm. The current thinking re AI is heading towards imprecise machine decision making. And that will inevitably include a forgetful parameter.

The traveling salesman problem is usually cited as a prime candidate for such an approach. The salesman in question may be packets traversing the internet or parcels to your door. The subject is big because the applications are so numerous.

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 25 May 16 - 08:35 AM

If the Internet were in charge, the first thing it would eliminate would be subdivisions full of nearly identical McMansions with immaculately manicured grass lawns crammed together like sardines in tin cans.

No, Wait! That's the first thing I would eliminate if I were in charge!

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: Ed T
Date: 25 May 16 - 08:41 AM

Magnets

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: Bill D
Date: 25 May 16 - 10:56 AM

But... it's just a "series of tubes"

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: mkebenn
Date: 25 May 16 - 02:55 PM

I suspect the first to go will be compasion and manners. alas Mike

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: Mr Red
Date: 25 May 16 - 06:17 PM

Maybe it is not the internet we must watch, it is Google.


And they now know I said that!

Subject: RE: BS: If the Internet were in charge
From: Rapparee
Date: 25 May 16 - 10:41 PM

The way the Internet is constructed insures that somewhere along the line what you post can be intercepted and traced back to you. And nothing goes away!

For example, the Wayback Machine has copied MC 813 times since December 5,1998. This doesn't include the postings -- those are here. I warn you though, it's not straightforward in usage.