Week 8 Lecture

Week 8 Lecture!

This weeks lecture we discussed the Definition of Democracy, from the history of how it was broadened over the last 200 years to the most obvious representation from the Ancient Greeks, participatory or direct democracy. I’m a massive fan of the ancient Greek system where every citizen had a right and duty to vote. Unfortunately in this day and age citizens do not pay full attention to politics and are forced to vote, it is clear that democracy isn’t at its best. 1 in 5 on the electoral role fail to vote; now that’s some enthusiasm! I don’t blame them though, corruption just pours out of the government. Moving on…

Cyberpunk! - One outlet for political expression with regards to the internet. And they come in forms off…

- Technology and mythology

- Utopia and dystopia

- Cities and Machines

- Technological change

- Modernism to post modernism

Public sphere – the domain of social life in which ‘public opinion’ forms.

I really liked John Gilmore’s opinion on free speech and censorship, I agreed with most of what he said. Such as deliberation and discussion are key attributes of democracy, and his example about the American man who posted pornography on the Internet, and although he was jailed the site was still active and the photos were still accessible without him. Makes you wonder how many sites clog up the Internet, how many have been abandoned but still cause harm or irritate people.

We moved on to hackers, or “originally computer programmers with a desire to so understand the intricacies of computing systems”. We discussed the use of hackers and how it is automatically referred to crime due to the bias views of mass media. People forget that Hackers can do good as well, maybe Die Hard 4.0 needs to be played a little be more, although I hate it with a passion.

William Gibson came next, and what an interesting man he is! He developed the term “cyberspace” and “virtual realtity”. He gets his ideas from science and theory and reinvents them, very interesting!

All in all a lot to take in this week..