The Technopschology of intelligence Part Two: Towards a grammar of connectivity

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The Techno-pschology of intelligencePart
TwoTowards a grammar of connectivity

• Derrick de Kerckhove

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Grammar

• A set of rules to define connections and
  functions between words
• Nodal and modular
• Precise and reliable
• Common to all users of the same language
• Maybe genetically based (Chomsky) although I am
  not convinced (usage gt logic or genetics)

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Grammar of networks

• Network structures present specific articulations
  of connectivity
• They tend to emerge from use and then become
  formalized
• They are nodal and modular
• They include technology but not exclusively
• Distributed Cognition Theory (Solomon, Hutchins,
  Hollan)
• Actor Network Theory (Latour, Law, Hassard)

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Principles (Hutchins)

• 1. Cognition is mediated by tools
• 2. Tool mediation in cognition means that
  cognition is rooted in the artificial
• 3. Cognition is a social affair that involves
  delicate variations and shades of communication,
  learning and interpersonal interactions

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ANT

• Actor-network theory can be seen as a systematic
  way to bring out the infrastructure that is
  usually left out of the "heroic" accounts of
  scientific and technological achievements. Newton
  did not really act alone in creating the theory
  of gravitation he needed observational data from
  the Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, he needed
  publication support from the Royal Society and
  its members (most especially Edmund Halley), he
  needed the geometry of Euclid, the astronomy of
  Kepler, the mechanics of Galileo, the rooms, lab,
  food, etc. at Trinity College, an assistant to
  work in the lab, the mystical idea of action at a
  distance, and more, much more (see the book by
  Michael White). The same can be said of any
  scientific or technological project.

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The victorious weak link

• In 1974, a Harvard sociologist made a seemingly
  unremarkable discovery. It is, in fact, who you
  know. His study asked several hundred
  white-collar workers how they'd landed their
  jobs. More than half credited a "personal
  connection." Duh. But then it got interesting
  The researcher, Mark Granovetter, dug deeper and
  discovered that four-fifths of these backdoor
  hires barely knew their benefactors. As it turns
  out, close friends are great for road trips,
  intimate dinners, and the occasional
  interest-free loan, but they suck for job leads
  and blind dates - they know the same people you
  do. In other words, it's not so much who you
  know, but who you vaguely know. Granovetter
  called the phenomenon "the strength of weak
  ties." He had discovered the human node.

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Connectivity Modes

• Broadcast/networked
• One-way - two-way my-way (all-way many to
  many M2M)
• Synchronous/asynchronous
• Private collective connective (dual/plural)
• Hierarchical associative
• Top-down bottom-up
• Open-source - proprietary

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Varieties of networks

• email
• Usenet, mailing lists
• MUDs and MOOs
• Wikis and wiki-like systems (e.g. the Everything2
  engine)
• Personal weblogs
• Weblog neighborhood analyzers
• Community weblogs
• Meetup http//meetup.com - article in Shift
  magazine
• Personal Journals
• LiveJournal see http//www.aquameta.com/gf/drupal
  /node.php?id48
• Xanga
• DiaryLand?
• Massively multiplayer online role-playing games
  (MMORPGs)
• Social Networking Systems
• Friendster http//www.friendster.com - about 1M
  users
• Ryze http//ryze.org - founder interview -
  about 1/2M users
• FoaF - about 1000 users
• for plenty more, see yet another social
  networking site
• Socialtext

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To which we can add

• AOL buddy system
• SMS
• Netmeeting
• And the varieties of search engines
• Automated page ranking (Slashdot, Openflows,
  Google news)
• Active worlds, etc.

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Towards a science of networks

• Valdis Kreb and June Holleys, Building
  Sustainable Communities through Network Building
  defines 4 phases in community network
  development
• Scattered Clusters
• Single Hub-and-Spoke
• Multi-Hub Small-World Network
• Core/Periphery

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Network (people) maps
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The value of network maps

• Who are playing leadership roles in the
  community? Who is not, but should be?
• Are communities of interest developing around
  key regional and economic issues?
• Who are the experts in the area?
• Who are the mentors that others seek out for
  advice?
• Who are the innovators? Are ideas shared and
  acted upon?
• Are collaborative projects forming between
  local businesses?
• Which businesses will provide a better return
  on investment both for themselves and
• the community they are embedded in?
• Are the right connections in place? Are any key
  connections missing?

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Network evaluation criteria

• Purpose (single, multiple, absent)
• Pertinence (hypertinence)
• Identity / anonymity
• Access (entry level democracy technocracy)
• Conviviality and ease-of-use
• Flexibility
• Selectivity
• Distribution (e.g. website gt e-mail address)

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Five general patterns are observed in all
effective networks

• 1. Birds of a feather flock together nodes link
  together because of common attributes, goals or
  governance.
• 2. At the same time diversity is important.
  Though clusters form around common attributes and
  goals, vibrant networks maintain connections to
  diverse nodes and clusters. A diversity of
  connections is required to maximize innovation in
  the network.
• 3. Robust networks have several paths between any
  two nodes. If several nodes or links are damaged
  or removed, other pathways exist for
  uninterrupted information flow between the
  remaining nodes.
• 4. The average path length in the network tends
  to be short without forcing direct connections
  between every node. The power of the indirect tie
  is used.
• 5. Some nodes are more prominent than others
  they are either hubs, brokers, or boundary
  spanners. They are critical to network health and
  growth.