Monday, November 29, 2004

The Idea Rises...

I'm hardly able to sleep these days. The Idea keeps getting larger, more defined, more... something. The Idea is that great, all encompasing model for a network-based universe. I see hydrogen molecules everywhere, my new basic symbol for mutual dependence, for the simplest of networks. In hydrogen (H2) each atom is in need of the other to remain somewhat stable. Every question that arises results in a network-based answer. A brief, and very civil, discussion of the abortion issue resulted in the question, "When does life begin for a child?" being raised. The answer: at division. At birth. A new nation exists when it divides out of the old national network that encompassed it. A new cell exists when it divides from the pre-existing one. I didn't like this answer much. I'd always liked to think that life began at some point, a gray area to be sure, before the third trimester in which conciousness was achieved. That answer doesn't hold water. It leaves more questions than answers, and none of those questions yield the answer either. Fortunately I can still skirt the abortion issue while holding my answer to be true, because simply defining a child as part of a mother until birth does not give the implicit right to abortion. (Depending on whether or not you're a libertarian, that is.) Anyway, the Idea rises.

I'm finding more network-centricists every day. I'm not even close to the only one, and I realized something today. We're reaching critical mass. Soon, we'll hear the jargon that we've been spewing at each other in ordinary conversation. Soon, our ideas on how to make politics more efficient will be reality. Take a look at this article from The Nation.

It's time to start writing. The Idea is mature enough. It's time to begin pruning the bonzai.

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