A revolution has been going on that doesn't get into the newspapers or magazines. Development in cybernetics, information and communications theory, general systems theory and mathematical logic have come together to require a restructuring at the foundations of our knowledge. Gerald Hall The Whole Earth Epilog I. REAR-VIEW MIRROR Searching for the roots of networking concepts raises the problem of the third chameleon. What color is the chameleon on the mirror? If ours is indeed a universe in which messages are carried from flower to flower, from cell to cell, and from the cell to the not-cell on the surface of the skin, then it is impossible to separate an "idea" about networking from the very structure and metabolism of our perceptual apparatus. The past, the present and the future appear in collusion on the mirror. For the most part, Roughdraft IV will consider the idea of networking as a strategy for modern society, a strategy based upon socio-cultural values, technological discovery and ecological crisis. A. THE CULTURAL BASIS It would be a terrible sin to reveal to the soldiers the secrets of your art. Beware. Do not allow even an insect to be in the room where you are working. A Chinese alchemist Information has always been, to some extent, subversive. The Morning of the Magicians by Jacques Bergier and Louis Pauwels documents countless examples of the ways in which networks have been used to protect truths unacceptable to official philosophy, while disseminating those truths in disguise. Some information has always been the special property of some groups-and that information has, almost more than anything else, determined the "quality of life" for individuals. Issues of information control, secrecy and power have grown directly out of an historical context. Some weighty examples: • During pre-revolutionary periods, advanced thinking takes on the cloak of another medium (pardon me, Marshall McLuhan). Often, science fiction prophesies science fact. • Jacques Bergier and Louis Pauwels (The Morning of the Magicians) claim that in June of 1955 the American government was planning a cryptocracy-an operation simulating an actual war condition, complete w~th arrangel!lents for the government to transfer its powers to a shadow government that had already been constituted. • The People's Yellow Pages (1971: Vocations for Social Change) is a contemporary access directory which grew out of the need to tap community resources in developing alternatives and job counseling programs. Its editor states that "most of us still rely on the system we are trying to change for our jobs and for the services we need. The People's Yellow Pages is a step in building a non-exploitative, alternative way to meet our daily needs." In the modern era of an information explosion, ecological crisis and information processing innovations, the subversive role of networks is being overturned. It is beginning to be recognized that the public's ability to make decisions regarding the future depends on putting information-seeking tools in the hands of the public. Groups like Eco-Net provide open access ·to information networks through their files, through computer access and through video-at the same time encouraging the development of user-oriented research skills. At the heart of the matter is a book called Revolting Librarians by Celeste West, a book which reflects recent movements within that bastion of modern networking institutions, the public library. "Revolting libraries" are those which attempt to be viable and democratic community resources and which seek to eliminate the prejudices of the Dewey Decimal System (the way we organize information begins to represent the value of that information) as well as those associated with censorship laws. B. THE TECHNOLOGICAL BASIS While networks have always been used as strategies for transmitting new, unpopular or untested ideas, the technological capacities of computers, as well as other telecommunication devices like video, Telefax and time-sharing computer components, render access to information for more people, raising issues of public privacy and individual rights. At what point does ready.access to information make it pub· lie property? Wha~ rights do individuals have against the intrusion of 1984-style public information devices in their homes (Port- ·land's C.R.I.S.S. system is a prime example of police-record networks which arouse a great deal of controversy). For citizens of the global village, is "dropping out" an inalienable human right or an irresponsible action? It is unlikely that the plethora of telecommunication developments in the last twenty-five years will ever replace completely the sense of trust and intimacy associated with personal networks of family, friends, and specialized informationwhich touch every aspect of our lives. The tools, and the visions for larger, more public systems are, however, indisputably present. • The idea of a Community Information Utility (CIU)'has received a good deal of attention from critics and proponents alike. CIU is "envisioned as consisting of a computing and video broadcasting center connected to remote terminals. The terminals would be located in all homes in the community, in schools and in various commercial and governmental offices. Communications between the central facility and the terminals
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