The4thRevolu,onLucianoFloridi

BookreviewbyEddyJ.Schuermans

www.esras2.com ©2016ESRASbvba

•  Inmyopiniontheauthorsucceedsverywellindescribinghowourworldhasbecomeaninforma,onalsocietyieinfospherethroughtheemergenceofincreasinglypowerfulICTsuptoalevelwheretechnologystartspuKngthehumanoutoftheloop.Andthehumaninhabita,ngthetechnologicalenvironmentithascreatedforitselfthroughICTsandAIcompanions,becominghimselfanINFORG.

•  Theauthorjuxtaposesverynicely(asyoucanno,ceinthesummary)4philosophicaltrendsatthelevelof,me,space,self-understandingandpoli,cs.

•  Finallyheaddresseswellthechallengesandriskswhichneedaddressingifwewanttomakethetransi,ionsuccessful.Onemajorissueisforexampletheenvironmentalchallengecausedbythefutureenergyrequirementsoftheinfosphere.Oneotheristheinfla,onofdataandtheneedtomemorizeornot.

•  Ingeneral:wonderfulreadpuKngeverythinginperspec,veandwellposi,onedinabroadersocietalcontext.InthisregardIseeotherbooksascomplementary:–  PostCapitalism–AguidetoourfuturebyPaulMason–  TheFourthRevolu,on–theglobalracetoreinventthestatebyJohnMicklethwait&AdrianWoolbridge.

Introduc,onInthefollowingslidesIhavesummarisedwhicharetomethemainideas(philosophies)beingputforwardbyLucianoFloridiinhisbook“The4thRevolu,on–Howtheinfosphereisreshapinghumanreality”.

©2016ESRASbvba–bookreviewbyEddyJ.Schuermans

HowtheInfosphereisReshapingHumanReality(1of2)

Mainideasfor Mainconcept Comments

TIMEAphilosophyofhistoryiroinforma,onsociety–Hyperhistory

3agesaswaysofliving–innova,on,welfareandaddedvalueare

Theageofthezebabyte(bigdata)Boblenecks:•  Connectvity•  Memory/storage

SPACEAphilosophyofnature–Infosphere

Technologyin-betweenness–3rdorder–removingthehumanfromtheloopICTthedominanttechnologyofour,me,withblurringinterfaces,transformingrealityintoaninfosphere(informa,onalenvironment)

•  TheOnlifeexperience,interac,ngwiththeinfosphere

•  TheZebabytegenera,on

•  OurSocialSelfs,ourselvesasinforma,onalen,,es

Needforaphilosophyofinforma,onasaphilosophyofour,meforour,me

Pre-History• NoICT

History• ICTrelated

Hyperhistory• ICTdependent

User Technology Prompter

TechnologyTechnologyTechnology✗

©2016ESRASbvba–bookreviewbyEddyJ.Schuermans

HowtheInfosphereisReshapingHumanReality(2of2)

Mainideasfor Mainconcept Comments

SELF-UNDERSTANDINGAphilosophicalanthropologyintermsofa4threvolu,onWhatdefinesushumansuniquely?

A4threvolu,oninourself-understandingTuring:beingdisplacedfromouruniqueposi,onintherealmoflogicalreasoning,informa,onprocessingandsmartbehaviour.Ratherweareinforma,onalorganisms(INFORGS)mutuallyconnectedandembeddedinaninforma,onalenvironment(Infosphere)whichwesharewithotherinforma,onalagents,bothnaturalandar,ficial.

•  LightvsstrongAI,syntac,cvsseman,c

•  TheworldisbecominganinfosphereincreasinglywelladaptedtoICT’slimitedcapaci,es

•  Humanseman,cagents

POLITICSAphilosophyofpoli,cs–poli,calapoptosis–anewinforma,onalorder

ICTshelpshikthebalanceagaintscentralizedgovernmentinfavourofdistributedgovernanceandinterna,onalglobalcoordina,on.

•  Needforinfrethicsgoverningtheinfosphere

•  Hyperhistoricalconflicts

•  Digitalgambit

Needforaphilosophyofinforma,onasaphilosophyofour,meforour,me

©2016ESRASbvba–bookreviewbyEddyJ.Schuermans

Copernican Darwinian Freudian Turing

NoICT–NoState

SovereignStateasmain

informa,onagent

Non-statemul,-agentsystems