Читать книгу Digital Universe - Peter B. Seel - Страница 13

An essential element of digital literacy is deciphering the source of key terms related to information and communication technology. The archaic meaning of “communication” was to literally hand a message from person to person, as would a messenger in ancient Greece. One might think that “broadcasting” applies only to radio and television, when its etymology is derived from an agrarian term meaning “to sow.” Before the invention of mechanical planting machines, farmers would walk through their fields and “broadcast” the seeds for a new crop by scattering them by hand. Today electronic messages are “scattered” through society through the air by phone, radio, and television and via fiber-optic cables on land and under the sea.

Another key term for the digitally literate is “cybernetic.” It is derived from the Greek term “kybernetes” meaning a pilot, steersman, or governor.¹⁵ The root “cyber” has been embedded into many commonly used terms involving information and communication technologies such as “cyberspace” (e.g. the digital universe), “cyberpunk” as a style of post-modern literature, and “cyborg” to describe a bionic blend of human and machine. A new favorite cyber-term is “cyberbole,” coined in 2002 by Steve Woolgar, which is used to describe the myths or exaggerations made about the positive attributes of new digital technologies.¹⁶ A key focus in this book is to limit cyberbole by carefully examining the positive and negative attributes of technologies in what is termed the Tao of Technology.

Cybernetics involves feedback mechanisms providing command and control functions in closed systems. Cybernetic perspectives assist in understanding complex systems that include circular causal chains that make up feedback loops, which regulate the functioning of a system. All humans rely on cybernetic feedback loops in our bodies to manage vital functions such as respiration and blood circulation – and especially for communication with others. The study of cybernetics applies to many diverse disciplines, but the focus in this text is on its relevance to information and communication systems. We learn how to acquire new digital knowledge and skills through elaborate feedback loops with friends and family and with formal instruction. You try your hand at taking digital photos and then sharing them online with friends. You receive useful feedback about your photographs and modify your image acquisition and processing skills accordingly. In a Web 4.0 universe, the feedback loops may be immediate and personal (“I don’t like my picture taken at the party last weekend – please delete it”) or it may be distant and more impersonal (bidding on a digital camera on eBay). These interactive mechanisms are at the heart of user-generated websites such as Wikipedia. With social networking and other Web 4.0 tools, you can expand your feedback options and use them to acquire new knowledge and skills, especially those concerned with new telecommunication technologies. This text provides the background needed to understand the evolution of these technologies and then encourages you to think critically about how they affect human life today and in the future.