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ICANNWiki:"Philosophy" essay by Marc Perkel (view source)
Revision as of 21:07, 30 August 2013
, 11 years ago→Human Software and Human Networks
Humans are not unlike computers in this respect and the computer give us insight as to who we are. We are individuals, but we are also part of a network. We have evolved to the point of being so dependent on the network that we need the human network in order to survive. If an individual is isolated from the network they usually don't survive and if they do don't live a life much different than any other animal. In fact isolation is considered to be cruel and unusual punishment in some countries.
Humans are not unlike computers in this respect and the computer give us insight as to who we are. We are individuals, but we are also part of a network. We have evolved to the point of being so dependent on the network that we need the human network in order to survive. If an individual is isolated from the network they usually don't survive and if they do don't live a life much different than any other animal. In fact isolation is considered to be cruel and unusual punishment in some countries.
One could consider one's personal behavior to be running one's personal software. But your software interfaces with the software of the society you are attached to or a member of. For example, when we drive cars we stop at red lights and we go on green lights. That's because we as asociety agreed to these rules so that people aren't killed as they drive through intersections.
One could consider one's personal behavior to be running one's personal software. But your software interfaces with the software of the society you are attached to or a member of. For example, when we drive cars we stop at red lights and we go on green lights. That's because we as a society agreed to these rules so that people aren't killed as they drive through intersections.
The human software model of understanding human behavior is a good model for understanding the Internet which is an artificial network created by humans for the purpose of expanding who we are as individuals and as a society. If we understand this in terms of software then we can understand that the better the software, the better the systems of society run. Historically this software has been developed through evolution. Over thousands of years cultures tried different things and that which worked survived and that which didn't tended to fade away.
Now however we are on the verge of a new paradigm where instead of the slow process of evolution developing the software of humanity humans are reverse engineering themselves and reverse engineering the universe to understand the reality that we exist in - and to determine what we need to do to stay part of reality. That is - to not go extinct. This new paradigm is engineered evolution.
Engineered evolution is having an understanding of the big picture from a big history perspective. We can then determine our role and our goals and with an increase in knowledge and wisdom we can set a course from where we are to where we need to be. Thus the software for the societies of the future can be developed today. Human software can become yet another open source project that humanity can develop.
The Internet is also blurring the distinction between the software of humanity and the software of machines. Take Facebook for example. Is Facebook human software or machine software? Or is machine software an emergent application that runs on human software? And will human software eventually run on machines?
These questions illustrate the purpose for this article. If humanity's network is merging with the Internet - humanity need system administrators. And that is the connection to ICANN.
=== Define Human Rights ===
=== Define Human Rights ===