Chaos As Social Order

then does cyberspace exist at all?

            This question is easier to answer on the streets of Taipei than on the tundra of Alaska.  Taiwan has the second highest population density in the world.  When population density combines with multiple, flexible, increasing avenues of expression, new human spaces result.  When population density combines with limited physical space, such as an island like Taiwan, a nation like the United States, or a planet like the earth, compression takes place.

            Compression involves a multitude of actions upon actions, of foldings and mixings.  Compression destroys information and creates information.  In both processes, certain kinds of space are created in order not only to accommodate the destructive and creative processes but also to contain the destroyed and created information.  Where does a document go when it is trashed?  Where does a document go when it is cached?  Where does a document go when it is stored or saved?  Where does a document go when it is emailed, faxed, printed, or mailed?  Each process requires a certain kind of space.

            Compression creates space by contracting quantity.  Compression of human beings creates more and more finely faceted human spaces.  Simultaneously, the increase in human beings, the expansion of their personal spatial horizons, and the increase in their physical possessions create needs for more living space.  Humans now need more living space.  Many people are responding to compression by moving to more and more remote land areas, to outer space, and to the bottoms of oceans.

            Cyberspace is a new kind of living space which combines the remoteness of

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37