Network theory is facinating! I can’t remember how I stumbled across this article, but it’s a facinating, critical analysis of the politics of network theory. The ghost in the network: alexander galloway and eugene thacker.
It starts out looking at the soul of network , but Aristotle’s idea of the soul- which just went right over my head - so here’s the simplified wikipedia introduction:
He holds that the soul is the form, or essence of any living thing; that it is not a distinct substance from the body that it is in; that it is the possession of soul (of a specific kind) that makes an organism an organism at all.Ok, so back to the article…
Network science takes up this idea on the mathematical plane, so that geometry is the soul of the network. Network science proposes that heterogeneous network phenomena can be understood through the geometry of graph theory, the mathematics of dots and lines.That’s what’s so facinating about it, similar network topologies appear in so many seemingly unconnected spaces. So maybe everything is connected afterall. Maybe this guy was right all along?
An interesting outcome of this is that seemingly incongruous network phenomena can be grouped according to their similar geometries. For instance the networks of AIDS, terrorist groups, or the economy can be understood as having in common a particular pattern, a particular set of relations between dots (nodes) and lines (edges). A given topological pattern is what cultivates and sculpts information within networks.
Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age is a great intoduction to everything that is network theory and is a great place to start if you’re interested in learning more.
Soooo… with all this stuff about networks and social networks being today’s hot topic it’s easy for to get carried away thinking of people as users in these networks. myspace has around 60 million users!
But these are people, individuals, personalities. It hard to actually imagine individuals in networks at the myspace scale. So we think them as users but even you start getting down to friends we never stop to appreciate the real relationship they represent.
Blogging communities at little social networks of their own. So setting out to meet the sa crew I was really interested in meeting the bloggers (aka users) in the network. Instead, I ended up meeting from really great people!
Max, Rafiq, Dave and Mike are the some of the serious nodes in this little network but they also happen to be really great group of guys. And they’re on the case! stay tuned!
I’ve always just loved the idea of possibility. The idea that next word in this sentence could be one of millions, in another language or just gibberish. Possibilty, gotta love it! This on the other hand, just blows my mind!
So, welcome to the Tenth Dimension!
In string theory, physicists tell us that the subatomic particles that make up our universe are created within ten spatial dimensions (plus an eleventh dimension of “time”) by the vibrations of exquisitely small “superstrings”. The average person has barely gotten used to the idea of there being four dimensions: how can we possibly imagine the tenth?
That’s no rhetorical question, these guys have the answer!
start out by clicking on “Imagining the Ten Dimensions” in the Navigation section: you will see a set of animations, with narration and sound effects, which take you from the first to the tenth dimension. We would suggest watching them in order from zero to ten the first time… but hey, you’re a creature with free will, so do whatever you’d like.
Wow! ten dimensions!
Please be careful, this site should not be viewed before operating heavy machinery, driving or attempting tasks or a sophisticated nature. May induce headaches.
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