Just kidding, we know it is a combination of the expense of the hardware, how it isolates us from the “real world”, and how little compelling content there is. But I am actually going to use this post to document some historical (meaning more than 10 years ago) thing that were written.
Many universities have Human-Computer Interaction centers and Stanford was one of my favorites. In a seminar given 21 May 1999 titled People, Computers, and Design: Roomware, Towards the next generation of Human-Computer Interaction Based on an integrated design of real and virtual worlds by Norbert Streitz at Darmstadt, Germany. He talked about i-LAND which is a combination of real and architectural features in which furniture, walls, doors, and other physical objects are augmented by virtual reality. They developed Passage, a mechanism for connecting information structures in the cyber realm with physical objects. Dr Streitz was manager of AMBENTE-Workspace of the Future
(William) Ross Ashby (6 September 1903 – 15 November 1972)
One academic area that I think has been neglected in cybernetics. Originally from Norbert Wiener, it was popularized by Ross Ashby, a psychiatrist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Ross_Ashby It discusses general system theory in which we view machines as control systems for other machines, machines as control systems for human beings, human beings as control systems for other human beings, and humans as control systems for machines. Humberto Maturana made many significant contributions I find compelling.
I find cybernetics important based on my theory of human communication. Beyond the syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of a language is the human use of that language in keeping with what JL Austin said in his book, Doing Things with Words. If you juxtapose Austin with Wiener who was a contemporary, I think a clear sense of the modern can be seen. We use language to influence and control others. A corporation depends upon language in so many ways starting with the motivational speeches given to the sales and marketing staffs through the procedures and practices manuals and the computer coding of the machines which enforce those policies and practices.
What is language? Many will begin to talk about information and the standard information models. Yet it remains a dynamic philosophical topic. Luciano Floridi happens to be the one guy I am trying to digest. Many others have written about information and I’ll continue to study this for the rest of my life. At my current understanding, I see it as a component of what I think Hegel might label as the Zeitgeist, some ghostly cyberpresence that exists as some plane above the individual and represents the many controls and norms of a society.
I lost the faith of my upbringing by the time I was 20. But I remained fascinated by religion. Now in my old age I was still fascinated yet puzzled by how to understand religion. I feared I would never find a philosopher who would give me the perspective I sought. But lately I discovered Ludwig Feuerbach (28 july 1804 – 13 September 1872). He studied under Hegel and deeply influenced Marx. His thesis is that while there is no God, we have created God and embued it with all the culturally desirable traits we see in the humans around us. And since what is admirable in one millenia is not the same as another. Nor are they universal in all places even at the same time. Therefore one should approach religion as an anthropologist learning about the people who profess to believe in those gods to learn what they found virtuous and good.
So what does this have to do with a metaverse? If we take the concept of a cyberrealm in which we live, we will bring human society into that space. We will need institutions, there will be some who bring their religion into it, we will have conflicts and need ways of resolving conflict and those institutions must exist at least partly within that metaverse, not external to it. So anthropology and sociology need to be examined and reinterpreted in a world that has its own metaphysics of time, place, movement and even existence.
In reviewing my old notes I see I took a deep interest in intellectual property and the legal principles that were trying to grapple with it. I had to throw out all of that material since it is worse than yesterday’s news. To do it justice I would need to start anew and I cannot. Yet i think the topic of property in a metaverse is still very interesting. How can society balance the needs of the creator and their rights in a world where the very “sight” of a piece of property represents a copy? How can one enjoy a piece of music without duplicating the sound energy that is the very essence of that performance? Is it really possible to limit the use of that media to personal consumption and not resale? Streaming has helped but not completely resolved this tension over what is merely information.
My Words for the Day
I am a decade late but here are a few words that I am trying to add to my vocabulary
Chthonic – concerning, belonging to, or inhabiting the underworld.”a chthonic deity”
Alembic – An alembic (from Arabic: الإنبيق, romanized: al-inbīq, originating from Ancient Greek: ἄμβιξ, romanized: ambix, ‘cup, beaker’)[1][2][3] is an alchemical still consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, used for distillation of liquids.
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