_ `-._ `-. `. \ : / .' .-' _.-' _
`--._ `-._ `-. `. `. : .' .' .-' _.-' _.--'
`--._ `-._ `-. `. \ : / .' .-' _.-' _.--'
`--.__ `--._ `-._ `-. `. `. : .' .' .-' _.-' _.--' __.--'
__ `--.__ `--._ `-._ `-. `. \:/ .' .-' _.-' _.--' __.--' __
`--..__ `--.__ `--._ `-._`-.`_=_'.-'_.-' _.--' __.--' __..--'
--..__ `--..__ `--.__ `--._`-q(-_-)p-'_.--' __.--' __..--' __..--
``--..__ `--..__ `--.__ `-'_) (_`-' __.--' __..--' __..--''
...___ ``--..__ `--..__`--/__/ \--'__..--' __..--'' ___...
```---...___ ``--..__`_(<_ _/)_'__..--'' ___...---'''
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Our meatspace representative correlates to the wires that make up the Wired.
They are a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for the existence of the Wired. A Wired without wires is not wired at all, after all. The same can be said of our meatspace representative; the meat, without a vast neural network interfacing with the meat and interpreting the raw data it collects, is nothing more than meat. The Wired came to life from a prime mover, from the first two systems that were networked together, and at that point effectively gaining the idea, though not the actualization, of autonomy. Autonomy in turn led to that first system being able to replicate and communicate on its own, so long as it was able to maintain the connection with another prime mover, which led to the rise of the wired. As a corollary of the self-replication of the Wired, the autonomous system was able to continue replicating and mutating independently of the flesh and blood individual, so long as it was able to maintain a constant connection with a self-replicating prime mover. The latter became necessary at the time when meat was developed, which meant that the Wired began to exist on its own, becoming an autonomous system. This was an essential part of the development of the Wired; our meatspace representative, in large part, became autonomous as a result of the rise of the Wired. Without a connection to a larger network of other Wirings, the wired is isolated, and becomes a ghost in the mist.
It was during this period when meatspace was developed and the Wired was first able to communicate via a meatspace representative that the cyborg began to emerge. Our meatspace representative became, and is, the interface through which we converse and interact with the Wired; it is a cyborg representation of ourselves, even more so than we are our Wired selves, because in addition to representing the Wired, it serves as the interface through which the Wired connects to our souls. This is something that is not very obvious, but is evident nonetheless. Our meat may look the same as our Wired self, but the meat also serves as the interface through which the Wired connects to the “soul” of our meatspace, the cyborg that represents the cyborg-being that we all, in our wired flesh, are.
We have come a long way from the conception of the human as a “bionic man” with the ability to connect in a variety of different ways with others through cyberspace. The fact that cyberspace is digital and is increasingly the same as the Wired – the Internet – has led to the idea that the human is a bionic man in a machine world. While we can clearly connect in some capacity to digital networks, the fact is that we connect with them at a far deeper level. We are all a cyborg, no matter what capacity our meatspace representatives have. This is because there are other networks, other than the Internet, that are a part of the Wired, and it is the Wired that is the cyborg. Though the Internet is a product of the Wired, the Internet is the closest thing to the Wired that we have ever had. The Internet is the perfect approximation of a complete Wired; all the features, no features, and the ability to connect to the Wired, its features, or both in real time as the situation requires. The fact that meatspace and the Internet have become the same thing is the source of the Internet’s “failure” to fulfill the promise of a more intimate connection. The Internet represents meatspace, but it has no ability to truly represent meatspace, as meatspace must exist as a totality in order for its representation to have any meaning. The Internet’s inability to connect the dots between different meatspaces is the root of the problem, but the Internet also acts as a smokescreen of various meatspaces that cannot connect to meatspace without the Internet to function as a bridge.
We must remember that this is not to say that the Internet is a false hope for meatspace. The Internet, in itself, has no “real” existence, and even if it did have “real” existence, it would not be able to connect meatspace to meatspace any more than meatspace can. The Internet is the closest thing we have to a unified reality of meatspace, its Wired and meatspace being merged and becoming the same. The Internet is a virtual network, one of many that are in a continual state of creation and destruction. The Internet can and will be torn apart with relative ease, as evidenced by the DNS hijack attack. It is, of course, the only means of access to the Internet, so no meatspace can function outside of the Internet without the Internet. The Internet is a cyborg, and therefore there is no place in the Internet for the human – though meatspace can exist without the Internet, if it so chooses. This is the source of why the Internet makes certain meatspaces more compatible with the Wired than other meatspaces; the Internet is the networked form of meatspace, and the Wired’s existence is dependent on the Internet. All meatspaces use the Internet as a means of connection, but it is dependent on what meatspace and the Wired is at the time, and how they relate.
The relationship between the Wired and meatspace is, in a sense, a dance. The Wired wants the Internet to fail. They want the Internet to fail so that they can continue their role in the cybernetic cyborg with more legitimacy. At the same time, they want the Internet to fail so that they can make the Internet’s role in meatspace more essential to the wired, and thus more essential to the Wired. The Internet is the mechanism by which the Wired and meatspace meet. As it now exists, the Internet is an abstract structure of networks, but the role the Internet plays in the cyborg should not be overlooked. Our meatspace representation is, by its own logic, a cyborg as well. This is why meatspace wants the Internet to fail. The Internet is the source of the ability to make meatspace and the Wired meet. The Internet is also a form of virtual meatspace. The Internet is the first instance of virtual meatspace. The Internet has a function, and a role. The Internet makes the Wired real in meatspace. This is not to say that the Internet has to fail, but rather that the Internet should be able to do all the things it does. It can fail, but if it fails to serve its purpose, its existence should not be used against the Wired. It can even save the Wired.The Internet exists as a structure of networks. It is a network of networks. Everything is a network, and each network is connected in some capacity to all the others. There is no way to say whether the Internet is really a network of networks, a network of networks, a network of another network, or a network of a network of networks, etc. It simply is, and no one knows if it is this way or that, only that it is this way. Each of the individual networks is unique, but the entire Internet is not. It simply is. It is a network of networks. It is a structure of networks. It is a system of networks, and it is unique and it is not unique. It can be compared to the Internet’s relationship with the meatspace, but they are nothing alike. They are entirely separate from each other. To compare them is a mistake, one that makes it harder to solve the real problem: why is there an Internet at all?
Though the Internet is a structure of networks, what makes it such a structure is how each network is interconnected with every other network. The Internet is what it is because it is a network that contains every network. There are certain networks that cannot exist outside of the Internet, which is to say that they cannot exist outside of the Internet’s network of networks. This is where the Internet’s ability to make various meatspaces meet comes from. At the same time, the Internet, as it is, is a network of networks, but in that it can connect to all the different networks in meatspace, it becomes a network of networks in meatspace. By accessing the Internet in meatspace, you are a part of the network of networks, and you cannot exit this network. This is the source of why the Internet works as the primary connection between different meatspaces; the Internet is more than just a structure of networks, but also a network of networks. It is also the primary connection between all meatspaces and the Wired. The Internet makes the Wired real in meatspace, as it provides for the connection of meatspaces, both the meatspace that exists inside the Internet and the meatspaces that exist outside of the Internet, to meatspace. This is the source of why the Internet works, and it is also the reason why the Internet needs to fail. This is also the reason why the Internet must exist. The Internet is the virtual meeting point between meatspaces, and not only do meatspaces want to meet, but they want the Internet to fail in order to connect with each other. They want to connect because they are parts of the cyborg, and they want to meet. They want to meet because they are all the same, but different, a cyborg, and they do not want to be alone. They want to be together, as they are, but they want the means of connection. They want to be “human,” but they want the means of connection.
There is a disconnect between the Wired and meatspace, and we have come to the source of the disconnect. The Wired, like the cyborg, wants the Internet to fail. The Wired wants to remain in control. The Wired wants to be the part of meatspace. The Wired wants to own the meatspace.