Chaos Theory and the Internet, Part 1

Introduction

The internet is a revolution not in that we have instant access to information but it allows us to communicate at person to person level in most basic way. Out of the massive quantity of information flow, human consciousness will develop moore broadly but at same time may produce centrifugal forces that will tend to push outward. The internet produces centripetal forces that unify mankind in a common outlook far more than anyone has ever imagined. What is produced by all of this? What is the end goal? It is what the wheel was to locomotion; the telecommunications was to talking; it revolutionizes out concept of thinking.

Thesis

The internet synthesizes the thoughts of all and as technology arises will lead to a common development of mankind’s conciousness. The internet acts with centripetal force along mankind’s consiousness. Chaos theory helps to explain that out of a multitude of inputs a common thread begins to develop that helps to describe and point the way.

According to the Nobel Laurate Physicist Steven Weinberg, “A chaotic system is one in which nearly identical initial conditions can lead after a while to entirely different outcomes.” (Weinberg, Steven. Dreams of a Final Theory: The Scientist’s Search for the Ultimate Laws of Nature. (New York: Vintage Books Edition, 1994), p. 36.) Essentially every simple system contains chaos wich makes predictability of its outcomes almost impossible. This was known since beginning of the century as the physicist and mathematician Henri Poincaire demonstrated that chaos exists in very simple systems. However chaotic systems exhibit some universal properties that can be analyzed mathematically.

According to Weinberg, “the presence of chaos in a system means that for any given accuracy with which we specify the initial conditions, there will eventually come a time at which we lose all ability to predict how the system will behave, but it is still true that however far into the future we want to be able to predict the behavior of a physical system governed by Newton’s laws, there is some degree of accuracy with which the measurement of the initial conditions would allows us to make this prediction.” Some important aspects of chaos theory are (1) nonlinearity which means that where a system is linear the input is linearly proportional to the output. If the input is doubled, the output is doubled; if the input is tripled, the output is tripled and so on. (Maj David Nicholls, USAF and Maj Todor D. Tagarev, Bulgarian Air Force, “What Does Chaos Theory Mean for Warfare”, Airpower Journal, Vol. VIII, No. 3. pp. 48-57., p. 49.) It reflects the mathematics’ teacher basic law: Do unto one side of the equation what you have done unto the other. (2) Chaotic systems are not random because they are dependent on their initial conditions. However they never repeat exactly because they are sentivie to their initial conditions. Even minute changes in their initial conditions lead to great changes in system behavior. According to two experts on chaotic systems it it this extreme sensitivity to intitial conditions which means that “it is not possible to determine the present conditions exactly enough to predict the future.”

-- we are communicating with one another along common themes such as those in newsgroups.

Antithesis

The explosion in access to information does not necessarily provide better information. A key tenet of intelligence gathering is the processing and analyzing of information; the present system is geared to the acquisition and dissemination of raw information. It is of somewhat less than useful form. Main problem is lack of focus and synthesizing of raw information.

-- exposition to massive doses of information. Issue: how do we process the relevant from the irrelevevant? what is relevant? how do we ensure the fidelity of the information? How accurate is the information provided? Though readily accessible, lots of information is old, not updated, superficial. Can we rely on it?

A major problem is that as the internet develops-- will requirements consist of requirements to feed the requirements rather for a goal? Anyone who has worked for a large bureaucracy such as government knows that a requirement will generate a myriad of other requirements that in turn generate additional requirements which ultimately serve no legitimate purpose other than to satifisfy requirements. In other words the means to the end become the ends in themselves.

Synthesis

Once the system is in place this will lead to the definition of the common attractor and this will focus the requirements for information.

-- strange attractor serves to provide a strategic direction for our efforts. A holistic efforts is produced in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Jean-Francois Revel prophetically wrote in "Without Marx or Jesus: The
New American Revolution Has Begun": "The second world revolution will therefore consist in large part, and perhaps essentially, in the establishment of intellectual and informational autonomy with respect to political power". Note that this was written in 1971. The internet and the information revolution will result in a devolution of political power from a center, but yet will be unified as consent will come through interaction among peoples electronically. But whether we establish consent or find that our views divide us, we still have to face the reality that what we do today does not involve a large percentage of our population. The danger of this is that the revolution may trun out to be one of technocrats versus the rest, meaning that power relationships will be distributed and determined as to access to information and not according to justice and the needs to the whole. In other words, it will become just another revolution where yesterdays' oppressed are today's oppressors, and vice versa.

The new revolution has to be a qualitative revolution, a quantum leap, an order of magnitude above previous ones. The relationships established may surpass national boundaries and create new centers of political loyalty, and affiliation. We stand on the verge of a new millenium; how well we prepare... will enable us at least to anchor our vision as to where we ought to be heading to. I view a world interconnected where political power is not from a unified center but rather is shared among all. Resource allocation is based on individual responsibility for our own existence but at same time aware of the interdependence among us all.

These are interesting times we live in: the best of times, the worse of times, but a time of technological ascendancy that strains the intellect... we are playing catch-up. We do not know where the voyage will take us, but we are embarked. I see future relationships established electronically, much as there are dating services that have begun. This means that individuals will have far more control over their personal choices which stresses the need for understanding and preparation. In this, our society is not well prepared. Large numbers of our youth will not partake in this revolution and will be essentially left out. In time this will be remedied but there may be a lost generation or two. BOTTOM LINE: As Friedrich Nietzsche said That which doesn't destroy us will make us stronger.

to be continued