If we are talking of building cyberspace, we should talk of some of the things that should be done with it. Right now I think people think of games. I think of something a little different. Sort of a game. An everything bagel game.
Let's assume we can build a geographically distibuted server with each nation, city or village, down to the plants in my back yard (growing), with a jump to where they came from (an OPTIONAL layer). That would be nodes layed on on a sphere and connected to nearest neighbors, with some long links. You know we can do this. It's not so hard with the right group of people. Each physical place has its own piece in the simulation; infinite subdivision subject to the rules of the space above it, with provisions for autonomous zones. In our diverse cultures, different rules apply in different locations. A lot of the differences we have occur when we butt up against each other and the ways that we are. A lack of understanding, a lack of common language hold us back. You don't need a language for people to play with each other. And I don't mean running around in corridoors, either. That's an adolesecent trip whos time is done. I mean Roger Rabbit's interactive math adventure. So, why not fix our little sickness through simulation ? It's a time honored technique for optimising and prototyping solutions to hard problems. Let the Israelis and the Palestinians have a go at building something in cyberspace first, but let the people do it. They have to live with it. In cyberspace, you get to visit another country, act like an asshole, and the locals choose what to do with you, in the nicest possible way, or in a way they'd be too nice to do RL. A full learning experience. It's like puppy training for humans, but without any of the unpleasant effects that a real-life version may have. A happy, loving place. Not a dark unpleasant place filled with pain and pursuit. Cyberspace here is not an escape from the real world, but a reflection of it. Someone in Uruguay should be able to visit virtual watts and see how well the tomatoes are doing. And, talk about it. Swap notes. Complain about the weather. Email was nice .. but .. really .... In Sweeden basic emotional education for all cuts social problems down to a minscule amount. And we don't need words to make a programming language with components what the whole world will be able to use to make real behaviors, so the world can internationalise basic applications itself.. There should be a basic science and mathematics curriculum for all, surpassing all languages, based on the manipulation of objects and the pure rules of mathematics we know. To start with, all the stuff which does not need english. It should be safe for children to play and learn with each other from one side of the planet to the other using secure cryptographic identities on the code they control, using crypted communications on which mom can snoop. When I say crypto, I mean strong crypto. Instead of fucking with the government, or whoever, lets think about using this stuff to develop deep cross-planet relationships - one of the things that will make us whole and solve this escalating 2000 year war problem we have going on. I for one am sick of it. It's a distraction from the real business at hand, which is getting the planet healthy and ready to participate at a galactic level. And, after all, locking someone out is very similar to locking someone in. You make sure you can that too. That's a temporary autonomous zone, for adults. A bubble in hyperspace. It's all just compositional crypto objects traversing a big graph. The stuff is developed symetrically, to account for the posibility of a con (ie, we're nice now, but get nasty later). There should be mollecular biology in shared space, tools for the design and visualisation of our sick little planet, environmental applications, layer apon layer apon layer. Infinite drill down. And you should be able to stand infront of the damn thing like a regular human being. Obsoleting the keyboard is possible with some of the things talked of here. I love my chair, but, enough. This is something for the world. What you get out of life is what you put in. And yeah, its a vision. But it can be done. M
