De-centered Community
I just got a free upgrade on my cell phone. Out of pocket only the sales tax. I'm always thrilled to get something new. Explore the enhanced features. Wonder what unimagined opportunities for human interaction are going to explode out of the next electronic permutation on conversation.
A close friend and I were sitting across the table from each other discussing decentered relational networks. No nationality to defend, no organization to sustain, no leadership hierarchy to climb, no barriers or limits to participation by anyone, anywhere, any time. Interesting. A world wide war is being waged on this basis as we speak. How will we engage these new possibilities for good?
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The concept of "Net War" was advanced a few years ago by RAND and Michael Crichton takes it up in his book State of Fear. Anyone trying to oppose any form of terrorism is up against this new concept. It isn't about anything high-tech, as the name might tend to imply, but rather it is about the tangled web of relationships and inter-dependencies that have emerged. These connections are, of course, possible due to the many advances in communications technology. The concept goes way outside armed conflict, however, and extends into many areas: politics, social norms, values, our routines. All of these are being affected by the things we see and listen to every day. How will we engage these new possibilities for good? Perhaps a renewed quest for 'truth' and 'what's right' can help move the mob of voices towards something resembling progress. Could having such a simple and clearly stated agenda hold its own against those lacking or hiding one?
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