Alex Krotoski: The Virtual Revolution

Many ideas and approaches to these ideas can be found in the work by Alex Krotoski, so a useful starting point would be to look at an episode of her series The Virtual Revolution. For example, she looks at the pioneering work of Vannevar Bush – ‘As we may Think‘ (1945) that describes a memory machine that would make knowledge (and thereby understanding?) more accessible.

The idea of how our minds process information is interesting, with the suggestion that we do not think in a linear or sequential way, but associatively and sensorily, so that information is linked to patterns, consequences, almost like nodes of hyperlinked information. Does this mean that we are superficial? That we can only read with short term memories? Does it suggest that we have breadth rather than depth of knowledge? And how are our own neurological pathways similar to the neural networks of the new media? Are computers super-human beings or just processors? A useful discussion on this topic is provided in THE DIGITAL APE, a book which re-considers our relationship with new media technology and in particular with Artificial Intelligence.

Krotoski also looks at the network effect, ‘the constant loop of digital information’ (Krotoski), which create a loop of action/reaction which allows for (companies to predict?) future action. This is an important concept for understanding how and why business masquerade their operations as personal interactions, which often appear to be ‘free’, but which can actually generate great reward. So the transaction is not based on monetary exchange but is the release of data. Many now argue that this relationship needs to be recognised and reorganised so that we are all able to maintain rights to our own data.

Consider a future device . . . which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory.”VANNEVAR BUSH, THE ATLANTIC MAGAZINE, JULY 1945

B.F Skinner

B.F Skinner experimented with the idea of Operant conditioning- Operant conditioning, also called instrumental conditioning, is a learning process where behaviours are modified through the association of stimuli with reinforcement or punishment.