{"id":42407,"date":"2018-10-03T11:22:26","date_gmt":"2018-10-03T01:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=42407"},"modified":"2018-10-03T11:22:26","modified_gmt":"2018-10-03T01:22:26","slug":"cyber-a-universal-acid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/cyber-a-universal-acid\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyber: a universal acid"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

There\u2019s a problem at the core of the digital revolution: getting our heads around the nature of the challenge. The term \u2018cyber\u2019, in particular, has become associated with the dark side of security and technology. And solutions\u2014aimed at keeping us safe\u2014have typically focused on finding either a technological \u2018fix\u2019 or a new pattern of government regulation to minimise those dangers.<\/p>\n

But cyberspace isn\u2019t invariably dark. The Oxford dictionary defines cyber (an adjective, not a noun) as \u2018relating to or characteristic of the culture of computers, information technology, and virtual reality\u2019. That definition isn\u2019t meant to offer the reader false comfort. Indeed, it suggests that the challenges of cyberspace are broader and deeper than we often think.<\/p>\n

In Darwin\u2019s dangerous idea<\/a><\/em>, American philosopher Daniel Dennett describes evolution as a universal acid. A universal acid \u2018is a liquid so corrosive it will eat through anything\u2019. Dennett argues that Darwin\u2019s idea\u2014evolution by natural selection\u2014is so powerful that it eats through just about every traditional concept and \u2018leaves in its wake a revolutionised world-view\u2019.<\/p>\n

Cyber has a similar effect: it goes beyond the technology \u2018stack\u2019 that extends from web applications all the way down to applications, operating systems and networks. Because cyber is an inherently human and social activity, its effects can be felt in all aspects of our lives.<\/p>\n

We can describe society using Stewart Brand\u2019s concept of pace layering<\/a>. Activities are stacked in layers, with slower layers supporting faster layers. Fashion and art, for instance, are supported by commerce, which in turn is supported by infrastructure, governance, culture and nature. As Brand states:<\/p>\n

Fast learns, slow remembers. Fast proposes, slow disposes. Fast is discontinuous, slow is continuous. Fast and small instructs slow and big by accrued innovation and by occasional revolution. Slow and big controls small and fast by constraint and constancy. Fast gets all our attention, slow has all the power.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Adapting Brand\u2019s model to the cyber world, the relevant layers can be parsed as follows, from fast to slow:<\/p>\n