Blogs seemed to me to be largely a self-indulgent activity. But of course, what is Facebook? Or any internet activity? I think I am right that for the most part, internet use is self-centered, but I think I had it wrong: it's self-expanding, not self-indulgent. It makes me, in a manner of speaking, cognitively bigger than I am without it - and for too long we as a culture have seen things that make us bigger and better as things that are indulgent and unnecessary.
I think, though, that although things have so far been quite individual-focused, we have already started perceiving it rather differently: network focused. So this blog is both the expansion of me and my unity with you - you dig? I wish I could convince you easily that that is not tautological, but it is perhaps too long an argument to make in an introduction.
I have ongoing dialogues with myself, as well as a smattering of unrelated miscellanea, but only recently have I sensed a unity in my thought that seems to me worth sharing. I do accept, however, that this may not be the case - but I think that the necessity of carefully formulating my thoughts in a way such that they can be read and criticized can only serve to help create unity. So perhaps this is mostly for myself after all. I'll offer no apologies though.
What can you expect to see here?
Well, topically you'll see items concerning network science, systems theory, cognitive science, philosophy of mind and of science, consciousness, and computation.
But a more substantive description is in order.
My main interests are
- developing a systematic and unified way to understand networks, whether they be neural, computational, or social
- understanding the ternary relationship of technology, mind, and world
- considering how dynamics can provide a framework for understanding the mind
- evaluating the usefulness of a philosophy of the internet in conceptualizing salient theoretical issues involving the internet
I certainly have nothing systematic to say about them now (nor do I expect too anytime soon), but you'll probably see a lot of related ideas on the blog. Probably the odd movie review as well (after all, I can put anything here).
Please comment if you have any ideas on these matters because dialogue begets ideas, rarely the other way around. Thanks for reading.
