Exoinformation?

From: Pedro C. Mariju�n <[email protected]>
Date: Fri 22 Nov 2002 - 15:06:29 CET

Dear colleagues,

Thanks to Christian, God�, Christophe, Heiner, and Elohimjl for their
further comments. There are quite many exciting motifs to think about (plus
today's fresh postings, from John H, and John C--great thoughts on
optimality!). In my opinion, finding a good way of grouping complexities
(or hiding our problems under adequate rugs), would help a quite a lot
these socioinfo discussions.

Most of the messages were taking our linguistic/symbolic capabilities as
the socioinfo starting point, and I really agree. Indeed we could rename
Homo sapiens as Homo loquens. The circulating info (or communication)
in the natural human communities is basically the spoken language,
although not only: an enormously rich set of facial expressions (eyes!),
postures, emotional utterances, laughter and crying, manual signs ('talking
hands'), odors, etc. accompany the symbolic communication. Seemingly, if we
enter into language, a universe of unsolved discussions is waiting for
us--and even if we enter into the very modest province of laughter, pretty
nice unsolved questions are lurching there too; or in the recent
discoveries about human pheromone communication... But perhaps all the
elements of this heterogeneous conglomerate have in common a 'natural',
gene related, species-specific character. I would suggest we label this
vast class of phenomena as the 'endogenous' info of our species. Our
natural setting of communication tools and relationships.

Then, human societies, after starting the runaway process of cultural
evolution with the invention of artificial ecosystems (see Diamond-1996),
become capable of --or 'necessity' forces them to-- advancing new forms of
external information ('exoinformation') that complement the communication
effects of the endogenous core. For instance, durability, transportability,
contemplability, compactability... Numbers and pictographic writing would
be one of the first exoinformation ('artificial') wrappings around the
endogenous info of human communities. Quite many other items and ad hoc
artifacts have joined in: alphabets, printing press and computers appearing
historically as the exoinfo crown inventions.

Both forms, the endo and the exo, are densely intertwined. The former
provides the intangible and ever-changing meaning, while the second,
external to the subject, becomes objectivable, measurable, transmissible,
digitalizable (quite often), etc. The exoinformation form, through human
agency, can be extended almost indefinitely, and apparently gets a life in
its own, vicariously however (the 'meme' conceptualization would not be so
terrific, after all). The exo form, although it appears as a new,
independent world, is always referring to the magmatic endo world; and even
the most sophisticate class of exoinformation, such as science itself,
relates to communities and invisible colleges who have to validate
groupally the occurring changes and novelties.

The relationship of 'knowledge' with both classes of info --implicit in the
previous paragraph-- could be quite intriguing (perhaps too complex, as
usual). Some of McLuhan's views on communication could be discussed in this
context too. He was a great pioneer, but maybe some other more recent works
--Hobart & Schiffman, 1998, 'Information Ages'-- would get closer to this
distinction between two classes of social information involved into strange
mutual processes and balances.

Needless to day, the artificial exoinformation wrapping, taken to the
extreme, becomes a hypertrophic exoskeleton that suffocates the 'real' endo
life inside... Perhaps this is one of the problems of our times. The
'information society' dumps us too much exo for our modest condition of
Homo loquens.

best wishes

Pedro
Received on Fri Nov 22 15:08:03 2002

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