Notes to Lecture 3 - How can 'space' be cybernetic?
Building
on the concepts of identity and cultural positioning developed in last week's
lecture about the 'new' media, this lecture is going to look at another key
term associated with the Internet namely 'cyberspace'. This lecture is going
look at the origins and various definitions of the word cyberspace. It is then
going to question the etymology of the term. In doing so it is going to consider
the concept of space and of virtuality. It will introduce some of the key talking
points of cyberculture- namely the identity, mind/body question, subjectivity,
and power and control within the media. In next week's lecture I will continue
these theme of cyberspace, but I will be taking a more critical and challenging
perspective of the claims of cyber-enthusiasts with the hope of highlighting
some of the hype surrounding cyberspace.
Science Fiction?
The term cyberspace was originally used by the Science Fiction writer William
Gibson, in his 1984 novel Neuromancer. On page 54 it is described as:
"A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate
operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts...A graphical
representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system.
Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the non-space of the mind, clusters and
constellations of data. Like city lights, receding..."
In doing so, Gibson created a neologism that summed up an existing, if somewhat
ill-formed notion that there is another world or space behind the computer screen.
As Jari Peltola notes "Cyberspace is often conceptualised as a matrix, a place
constructed out of information." Peltola notes that Gibsonian cyberspace has been
identified as having four features:
1. It is described with familiar spatial images like cities, buildings etc used as metaphors of social structures;
2. It is made of information, offering great power to those who can manipulate information;
3. Bodiless consciousnesses live there; and
4. It is possible to attain immortality in cyberspace, because there everything
is data only.
In fact, in Gibson's books many of the characters decide to give up their physical appearances, their 'meatspace', in order for "pure" existence in cyberspace. In our discussion of identity, in the last lecture, we noted that a number of characteristics of identity are rooted in the body - e.g. height, age, sex etc. The Gibsonian model of cyberspace argues that we would leave them behind when we leave the real world. This raises the question of what exactly are we when we are in cyberspace? What is this 'core' that we take with us into cyberspace? Does such a core exist independently of our bodies?
The classic archetype of Gibson's fiction is the' Cowboy'. A cowboy is kind of technologically capable loner-hero who can move about the information of cyberspace as an act of will. This image of pure information is now seems somewhat idealised compared to the current realisations of cyberspace. However, it is important to note when critically analysing Gibson's description that it was penned in the early 1980s, and it is not a historical account of cyberspace. It has, nevertheless, served as a guiding metaphor for a number of the leading characters thinking about cyberspace..
Declarations of Independence
In contrast to Gibsonian cyberspace, other commentators have noted another
more socially-based model of cyberspace that has come to be known as Barlovian
cyberspace. Barlovian cyberspace is name after John Perry Barlow ( the lyricist
with the band the Grateful Dead). Barlow is the founder of the Electronic Freedom
Foundation. In 1996, he issued 'A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace'
- mainly in response to the debate surrounding the US's Communication Decency
Act - and in this tract he describes his vision of cyberspace:
"We are creating a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice
accorded by race, economic power, military force, or station of birth,
We are creating a world where anyone, anywhere may express his or her
beliefs, no matter how singular, without fear of being coerced into
silence of conformity. In our world, whatever human mind may create
can be reproduced and distributed infinitely at no cost. We must declare
our virtual selves immune to your sovereignty, even as we continue to
consent to your rule over our bodies. We will spread ourselves across
the Planet so that no one can arrest our thoughts. We will create a
civilization of the Mind in cyberspace. May it be more humane and
fair than the world your governments have made before"
Barlovian cyberspace has been characterised as a frontier zone, which implies
a group of settlers moving into empty, virgin lands much in the image of the
films depicting the American Wild West. It important also note the type of
society envisioned. Barlow's piece has a libertarian tone to it that rejects
any form of government control.
The Barlovian model is clearly a more social characterisation of
cyberspace based on interaction between real individuals, in contrast to
the informational ideas of Gibsonian cyberspace. Both, however, share the
use of spatial metaphors.
What Barlow is clearly stating is that a community with particular
values exists in cyberspace, not necessarily a nation, but a political community.
This raises all sorts of questions about who are (and perhaps more importantly)
who are not members of this community. One of the leading advocates of a social
vision of cyberspace is Howard Rheingold. In his book,The Virtual Community:
Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier, he written of a notional ten-year old
who can plug-in to this new world and"instantly obtain a bully pulpit, the Library of Congress, and a world full
of coconspirators"
In fact, as we shall see next week, a number of commentators have questioned
the contradictory assumptions underlying this social model of cyberspace. As Peltola
notes, the Barlovian model with its real-life players interacting in a community
implies that"cyberspace is not a free frontier but only a new battleground for
both old traditional keepers of power and the new virtual rivals to command and conquer"
Since 1996, it has been interesting to see that the traditional keepers of power
have engage cyberspace in a number of ways. Dot.com start-ups, e-commerce, open government
initiatives and of course the ubiquitous website. Bill Gates and Al Gore , for example,
have both offered us their particular views of what cyberspace.
Origins of the term I - Cyber
Although Gibson first coined the word cyberspace in 1984,
the etymology of its component parts goes back along way indeed.
The Cyber prefix is derived from two ancient Greek words 'kyverno',
the verb to steer, and 'kivernerisi' meaning to govern. When it was used
in its noun form the term referred to a steersman on an ancient ship.
Therefore when we talk about 'navigating' cyberspace we are using a
metaphor that harks back nearly three thousand years.
'Cyber' was first used in modern English by the legendary system engineer Norbert
Wiener, who described a new science of automated systems that needed little
input to control themselves, this new discipline he christened 'cybernetics'.
The prefix cyber has now come to be conflated with the word computer or machine,
in such terms as cyborg and cyberspace. However, the full title of Wiener's
1948 book is very instructive - 'Cybernetics: or, Control and communication
in the animal and the machine'. Wiener intended his study to include the
system controls of biological organisms, as well as machine/human systems and
whole societies. With our critical discussions of cyber- in connection with
the control of culture and society we are arguably coming closer to Wiener understanding
of his term.
Virtual Reality
The expression 'Virtual Reality' is often used as an alternative to cyberspace.
In particular, it is used to describe highly immersive forms of computer mediation
involving goggles, headsets and bodysuits which extend the range of sensory experiences
generated by the computer. In these environments the aim is to make the whole sensory
capabilities of the body into an interface. One of the key facets offered by these
environments is sense of immersion in the virtual environment generated. So far,
VR programs are single user programs so that they rather lonely worlds.
They also require special equipment and are not available over the Internet
or on a PC, however, a number of images from science fiction offer the ultimate in
immersive experience. The film Strange Days offers us a futuristic device called
'the wire' which is described in the film as being 'television only better'.
This device can record and play back sense perceptions, and so transfer
experiences from one person to another. In this example, the mediation
would be completely hidden.
Immediacy and Hypermediacy
Jay David Bolter argues that in process of remediating new media
use two representational strategies. These are
On the futuristic device 'the wire' we see a futuristic paradigm of immediacy,
whereby the medium seeks hide its own mediation by appearing to be transparent.
In more mundane example, webcams also seek to appear to be 'simply' showing reality.
However, webcam images are often also embedded in complicated mosaic of graphics,
text, scroll bars etc. on websites so demonstrating hypermediacy which seeks to
draw attention to the medium itself. In both cases these are strategies seek to
give a sense of up-to-the-minuteness.
Defining the Virtual
In these cases described above, the word virtual is often used in
opposition to real ("as in it is not real….. it is virtual!"). 'The wire',
for example, is designed to fool our minds. However, what do we really
mean by the term virtual. As Marie-Laure Ryan notes : -
the term 'virtual' encapsulates two distinct concepts the largely negative
idea of the fake, illusionary, non-existent, and the overwelmingly positive
idea of the potential, which connotes productivity, openness and diversity.
The positive aspects of this 'potential' quality can be seen by making a comparison
with literature in which fiction can bring us into contact with representations
of unreal characters, that can inspire and move us. MUDs and MOOs ( as discussed
in another lecture) also use text to generate a fictional sense of immersion
and some of the advocates of these types of interaction argue that they to represent
an enhancing of cyberspatial experience where the user/player gets to visit
strange lands and meet interesting people.
The virtual quality of representation has implications beyond
the immediate experience of VR or novel, however, in particular, in
the design of interfaces and maps. Arguably, we commonly approach
reality through our notions and abstract conceptions ( such as a
political map of the world). In doing so, we are experiencing the virtualisation
of our own sensory perception. This has had profound implication for culture,
both in the arts and in the sciences. For example, the development of the
tools of perspective such as the 'vanishing' point in Western Art,
based on the notion of a conventional likeness. Similarly in the
modern science, a researcher rarely simply gathers empirical data.
As the philosopher, Alexandre Koyré notes:
"An experiment is a question we put to nature…..Science does
not result from an accumulation of facts; there are no facts that
do not imply concepts."
Descartes Legacy
One of the most influential thinkers of Western Culture is
Rene Descartes (1596-1650), who's philosophies have shaped the
development of science, mathematics and rationalism. A number of
the philosophical questions faced by thinkers looking at cyberculture
stem from his intellectual inheritance, in particular the nature of
reality, the mind/body divide, the unified subject and the
virtuality of space. The abstract x, y, z co-ordinates that
are still used to map space, for example, are known as
Cartesian co-ordinates to recognise Descartes contribution.
Descartes philosophies were formed in a climate of extreme uncertainty.
The collapse of the authority of a unified church, religious
wars between Catholic and Protestants and the questioning of
the European medieval scholasticism had removed the framework of belief
that his society had relied on. Unlike other thinkers of his
time Descartes took his extreme doubt as a positive point
on which to build his world-view. His argument was summed up by Koyré as follows
"Even if I err everywhere and always, even if all my ideas and all my
judgments are false, is it not necessary that I myself, I who err, or am deceived ,
should be or exist just in order to be able to err or to be deceived? And moreover,
even if all my ideas are false, it is certain, nevertheless, that I have these ideas
….I have this illusion, I am conscious of it, and therefore I cannot doubt that I am"
From this argument the tradition of the rational (but sceptical), unified,
thinking subject was born that is exemplified in the 19th Century
conception of the scientist and artist. It is interesting to note
that this bodiless conscious essence is very similar to the Gibsonian
idea of being in cyberspace. These have important implications when
discussing subjectivity in cyberspace. For example, are we really
so separate and isolated when we are part of a network. Where does
this subject begin and end? What role does language play in forming
our identity? It is worth noting that in the wider field of cultural
studies the idea of the discrete 'self' or 'subject' is now under attack.For example, psychoanalysis has introduce the notions of the conscious
and the unconscious which 'fragment' the self.
Origins of the term II- Space
In common parlance, the word space has come to be
associated with astronauts and rockets. This connection is made
in the famous ( infamous? ) at the beginning of Star Trek…"Space - The Final Frontier…".
Space in this context is actually an abbreviation of the earlier term 'Outer Space'
used by astronomers and science fictions writers alike.
This notion of space empty of anything but distance and
light builds on an abstract mathematical notion of space.
As we shall see, Space in this more abstract sense is an
interesting term with a long pedigree in Western philosophy.
Conceptions of cyberspace, as a 'place' that reflect and
inform our notions of the new media is no exception.
The value of our notions of space are perhaps best demonstrated
with a look at the history of mapping.
Representation: The Act of Mapping
Map-making
is a graphical way of representing conceptions of space, time and order. As
Denis Wood notes in The Power of Maps: that they give us:-
"A reality beyond our reach… a reality that exceeds our vision, our reach, the span
of our days"
A reality, in fact, that is very much a virtual view of the world.
However despite being virtual, this representation is extremely powerful.
In his article, Origins of Cartography Malcolm Lewis argues that maps
came into being because
At a certain stage it would have been advantageous for men to structure
information about the spatial aspects of his world and to communicate it to others (pg 50))
In producing maps,
however, more than just a spatial view is conveyed. Geopolitical affiliation,
ideology and world-view are all embodied in the representation. Even so-called
scientifically accurate maps contain cultural elements. The classic world-view
produced by the 16th Century European map-maker Gerhardus Kramer (generally
known as 'Mercator') places Europe in the centre, in the top half of his map,
so awarding it power and centrally in the image he created. His projection (making
the meridian lines run parallel rather than meeting at the poles) also produced
an image in which the land mass of Europe seems proportionally bigger than that
of the tropics, so that countries in Africa and South America seem smaller.
As Jeremy Black notes in Maps and Politics
Maps have played and play a major role in politics…reflecting
the powerful ability of visual images and messages to advance agendas ( pg 9)
In the colonial
period of European history, for example, empty spaces on a map were interpreted
as places that could be colonised. Maps of Australia, Africa and the Western
part of North America were uncharted and so seen as virgin, unmapped places…despite
having existent native cultures. I think this makes an interesting comparison
with the metaphorical electronic frontier heralded by Barlow above.
More recently,a number
of projection used by map-makers have challenge this European world-view. For
example, Australian map makers have placed South at the top of their projections,
bringing their country into the centre-top position. Phillips projections have
altered the projection of relative size. Names, lines of borders, the use of
colour to highlight details ( and to hide others) also all inform a view of
the world.
Remediation of Maps
Interestingly, one of the most common graphic components
of a website is a map. This makes an interesting study in remediation.
The use of changing colours, the ability to interact with the display
and move the perspective of the map and the ability to download the
digital data have all changed the way in which maps are now used.
(See the cartographic references). It also makes it an interesting
study in changing perceptions of space.
The Interface as a Cognitive Map
It has been noted by a number of commentators that graphical user
interfaces ( GUIs) are a kind of map. They provide points of entry that
are designed to orientate and guide the user (some sites of course,
are designed to confuse, which is a very particular notion of orientation)..
They plot out sets of concepts and direct the user to think about the data
that is being made available in a particular way in exactly the same way as a map.
In doing so, they also act like another commonly used computer tool, the database
management system, imposing an order on a given data set. It is, of course,
questionable as to whether this design order can be un-problematically
conveyed or fully comprehended by a user because it can, of course,
be rejected, subverted or misunderstood by user who does not share
the conception being represented by the interface.
One of the flaws with the popularisation of the Gibsonian model
of cyberspace is that it ignores all the problematic issues surrounding
the notion of information. Data is not information ( as any one knows
who has tried to find out the name of some one else's file on a computer).
There is always a context that places data into informational structures.
End Note
For those
of us who have come to the Internet as a way of earning a living, as a web designer,
for example, for a large corporation or a governmental agency it is worth noting
Rheingold's condemnation of this kind of commercialisation of his 'country'.
Back in 1993 he wrote:-
The Net is still out of control in fundamental ways, but it might
not stay that way for long. What we know and do now is important because
it is still possible for people around the world to make sure this new
sphere of vital human discourse remains open to the citizens of the planet
before the political and economic big boys seize it, censor it, meter it,
and sell it back to us.
Next week's lecture will take a critical view of the two models
of cyberspace discussed above, and suggest that they are inadequate models
of the current state of the new media. Perhaps one of the reasons why the
given models of the cyberspace are inadequate is that the naïve moment
of its conception is over. In next weeks lecture we consider ways in which
we might modify the existing models or create new ones that better suit our purpose.
Bibliography
- Barlow, John Perry (1996) A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace
available on http://www.eff.org/~barlow/Declaration-Final.html
( 17/10/02)
- Black, Jeremy(1997) Maps and Politics London Reaktion Books
- Gibson, William (1986) Neuromancer London Grafton
- Koyre, Alexandre (1970) in his introduction to Descartes: Philosophical Writings Nelson's Uniersity Paperbacks London
- Lewis, G. Malcolm (1987) ' Origins of Cartography', The History of Cartography: Vol1 edited by J.B. Harley and David Woodward Chicago and London University of Chicago Press
- Peltola, Jari World of Worlds? Conceptualising Cyberspace available on http://www.cc.jyu.fi/~jarpelt/cyberw.htm(
17/10/02)
- Rheingold, Howard (2001) The Virtual Community in Reading Digital Culture Oxford Blackwell - editor David Trend
- Ryan, Marie-Laure (1999) Cyberspace Textuality, Computer Technology and Literary Theory Indiana Indiana University Press,
- Wiener. Norbert (1948) Cybernetics: or, Control and communication in the animal and the machine New York and Paris John Wiley & Sons
- Wood ,Denis(1992) The Power of Maps London Routledge
Cartographic References
- Harder, Christian(1998) Serving Maps on the Internet: geographic information on the world wide web Redlands, CA Enviromental Systems Research Institute
- Kraak, Menno-Jan and Brown, Allan (2001) Web Cartography London and NY Taylor and Francis
- MacEachren, Alan M(1995). How maps work: representation, visualization and design New York and London Guildford Press
On-Line Cartographic References
Government (UK)
Companies (UK)
AtoZ http://www.azmaps.co.uk/
Get Mapping http://www1.getmapping.com/home.asp
MapQuest http://www.mapquest.co.uk/
Maps Worldwide http://www.mapsworldwide.co.uk/
Phillips http://www.philips-maps.co.uk/
Streetmap http://www.streetmap.co.uk/
Government (US)
Companies (US)
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