tim@cole.de

Getting along fine, thank you!

This is the third part of a three-part series

The third term we would like to add to the growing dictionary of Digital Enlightenment is “self-regulation”. In cybernetics, systems that regulate themselves are widespread; in fact the Internet itself is probably the best example of an “autonomous”, self-regulating system since it was designed to let individual “packets” of information seek their own way to their destination; they then reassemble themselves and can be displayed in their original context. Any attempt at interfering with the flow of information in such an automated system, for instance censorship, is routinely treated as just another obstacle – something the system is expressly designed to work around.

The principle applies as well to „non-technical“ networks. “Hippie Havens – land communes fostered by members of the counter culture in California and elsewhere in the 70ies and 80ies – are a good example. „The Farm“   a community founded in Tennessee by hippies from San Francisco, is the oldest existing of these, having been established in 1971. At its hight it boasted 1,500 members and attracted such celebrities as Walter Cronkite and Phil Donahue. Today, this oldest hippie commune is still going strong, as a recent documentary by abc News proved.

Social Networks and community projects like Wikipedia are other well-known instances of self-regulating (and often self-policing) systems. Taking this idea a step further,  traditional non-technical communities such as hunters and gatherers, agrarian village communities and many spiritual or religious groups can be seen as autonomous social networks since they aim less at improving material living conditions but instead maintain their cohesiveness through the sharing of resources and common values based on shared experiences. Thanks to digitalization and networking, it is easily possible to set up similar communities regardless of physical distance or political borders and even without users being required to speak a common language. Such networks do much more than just allow members to communicate; they can exchange opinions and feelings,  set common goals and define common values. Weiterlesen →