Mark's Myth
Fifty years ago in 1969 the first electronic message was sent over the ARPANET. This led to the development of protocols for internetworking, in which multiple separate networks could be joined into a network of networks.
Forty years ago we were working on projects integrating the nascent ideas of networking and utilizing our new digital tools, the newfangled personal computer.
Thirty years ago Tim Berners-Lee proposed an information management system that has become known in the internet as the World Wide Web.
With each idea that comes along another will eventually spin-off or leverage its foundation to build further upon. This is the gift of collaboration… the never ending idea.
Our natural tendencies are to communicate and share. It’s the trajectory of our existence. Its synergy.
“At pivotal moments, generations before us have stepped up to work together for a better future. With the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, diverse groups of people have been able to agree on essential principles. With the Law of the Sea and the Outer Space Treaty, we have preserved new frontiers for the common good. Now too, as the web reshapes our world, we have a responsibility to make sure it is recognised as a human right and built for the public good. This is why the Web Foundation is working with governments, companies and citizens to build a new Contract for the Web.” — Tim Berners-Lee
You are invited to share how has the web changed your life… What do you use it for? What are your hopes for its future? And what would you like to see as the Contract for the Web?
This is a story #fortheweb
this is a story about being connected
this is a story that started a long time ago
when we tuned into the electromagnetic spectrum
this is a story about our tools
this is a story about connectivity
this is a story #fortheweb
this is a story about becoming eleprocons
revealing that we’re truly
electrons, protons and consciousness
this is a story #fortheweb
this is the story about E=Mc∞
Evolution = Mind x omnidirectional communication
this is the story of us…
#ForTheWeb
Mark’s Myth is an exploration into the synergies of ideas… riffs blending wordplay, story telling, technology and the arts weaving together a tapestry of synapses and milestones.
What’s your story #ForTheWeb?
Hate it, love it, gotta have it, can’t turn it off, don’t want it, connected, disconnected, lonely, productive, inspiring, overwhelming, how you’d like it to be… everyone has a story #ForTheWeb
It’s a big topic to explore. For me right now there are two “stories #fortheweb” I’m focusing on.
The first is how the web operates as a communication platform. Facebook particularly is transforming how we share information with each other. They are favoring mainstream and established media brands, resulting in media outlets like Ideapod being deprioritized in the news feed. It’s not a conspiracy. They need to make Facebook a place where misinformation and fake news doesn’t easily spread. However, I think that “filter bubbles” and “echo chambers” will become larger problems as time goes on.
The second and related problem is the way dominant technology platforms shape our minds. We wrote a brief article about it here, where a Facebook executive suggests that Facebook engineers are actively trying to “program us”. I think that dominant actors in society throughout history try to shape the beliefs of the people in society - shaping beliefs is really the same as “programming” people. So it’s not a new problem, but the web is just the most important technology being used for this purpose. The solution we’re working on here is Out of the Box, an online workshop that helps people to “free their minds” by connecting with their inner nature. I believe this is an important path for all of us to be on so we are less easily “programmed” by powerful actors.