Network Logic - Index of
Network Logic - Index of
Network Logic - Index of
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Living networks<br />
In modern societies, the culture’s semantic structures are<br />
documented – that is, materially embodied – in written and digital<br />
texts. They are also embodied in artefacts, works <strong>of</strong> art and other<br />
material structures, as they are in traditional non-literate cultures.<br />
Indeed, the activities <strong>of</strong> individuals in social networks specifically<br />
include the organised production <strong>of</strong> material goods. All these<br />
material structures – texts, works <strong>of</strong> art, technologies and material<br />
goods – are created for a purpose and according to some design. They<br />
are embodiments <strong>of</strong> the shared meaning generated by the society’s<br />
networks <strong>of</strong> communications.<br />
Finally, biological and social systems both generate their own<br />
boundaries. A cell, for example, produces and sustains a membrane,<br />
which imposes constraints on the chemistry that takes place inside it.<br />
A social network, or community, produces and sustains a nonmaterial,<br />
cultural boundary, which imposes constraints on the<br />
behaviour <strong>of</strong> its members.<br />
Conclusion<br />
The extension <strong>of</strong> the systemic conception <strong>of</strong> life to the social domain<br />
discussed in this essay explicitly includes the material world. For<br />
social scientists, this may be unusual, because traditionally the social<br />
sciences have not been very interested in the world <strong>of</strong> matter. Our<br />
academic disciplines have been organised in such a way that the<br />
natural sciences deal with material structures while the social sciences<br />
deal with social structures, which are understood to be, essentially,<br />
rules <strong>of</strong> behaviour.<br />
In the future, this strict division will no longer be possible, because<br />
the key challenge <strong>of</strong> our new century – for social scientists, natural<br />
scientists and everyone else – will be to build ecologically sustainable<br />
communities. 11 A sustainable community is designed in such a way<br />
that its technologies and social institutions – its material and social<br />
structures – do not interfere with nature’s inherent ability to sustain<br />
life. In other words, the design principles <strong>of</strong> our future social<br />
institutions must be consistent with the principles <strong>of</strong> organisation<br />
that nature has evolved to sustain the web <strong>of</strong> life. A unified conceptual<br />
Demos 33