[Air-l] hallucinating cyberspace -origins

[jespert]

Dear All,

The first universal concept of space was a poetical or mythological one: 

chaos
 known from Hesiod. According to Jammer (who has been mentioned 
on this list before) 
chaos
 implies an idea of terror and fright and is 
not a scientific notion. Like Homer, Hesiod describes a world where a 
flood becomes alive and all nature becomes animated. The concept 

cyberspace
 invented by Gibson (1986) is a poetical one, too, like 
Hesiod´s notion of space (not myth but science fiction - but maybe that 
is almost the same because you can postulate that most of our common 
knowledge we have about technology is from science fiction) and implies 
an idea of terror where machines live as cognisant beings and where 
humans haunt this space as memory chips. As I show in my article 

cyberspace as a space parallel to geographical space
 the philosophical 
tradition has transformed the idea of space into an analytical useful 
concept, both as physical space, as a form of intuition and as a 
phenomenological space, that we also can use to describe cyberspace.

Best Regards
Jesper

Eero Tarik wrote:

> hi gang,
>
> correct me if I am wrong but didnt Gibson, when he created the word 
> "cyberspace", define it as "a consensual hallucination experienced 
> daily by legitimate operators".
>
> So when I refer to anybody "hallucinating" about cyberspace I am 
> indeed being correct as per the true meaning of the word. Cyberspace 
> is, according to the author of the word, an hallucination. To create 
> cyberspace, one hallucinates. Nobody was being insulted, nobody was 
> being ridiculed when I suggested some hallucinate about cyberspace, I 
> was merely describing cyberspace as the author intended.
> I trust the confusion has now ended.
>
> Of course, if some people want to take the word cyberspace and then 
> re-invent its meaning.... well, thats another issue :-)
>
> note to Jonathan - I did put forward a project in the online 
> discussion group in one of my internet studies units but it was 
> suggested to me that I might like to keep it under my belt for a post 
> graduate effort.
>
> to conclude...
> I'm sure the famous modern philosopher, Bart Simpson, if asked his 
> opinion on this matter would remark...
> " hundreds of billions of web pages to study and you want to talk 
> about cyberspace????"
>
> see ya
>
> Eero Tarik
>
>
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-- 
Jesper Tække - MA. Ph.D.-Student - IT University of Copenhagen - Dept. of Digital Aesthetics & Communication -  Glentevej 67 - DK-2400 NV Copenhagen NW - Phone +45 3816 8888 - Direct +45 3816 8881 - Fax +45 3816 8899 - http://home16.inet.tele.dk/jesper_t/  - e-mail: jespert at it-c.dk