User:Nadiners/ Thesis draft
The Nature of information is impossible to Unpublish
Abstract
In my thesis I will discuss how the very nature of information does not allow itself to disappear. When talking about content that goes on the internet, we tend to call it publishing, what I'm proposing is that the reverse: 'Unpublishing' is not possible. I will begin with comparing data (the raw material of publishing) to energy, both their natural courses, as they are being created can be either stored or disseminated. Today we are living in a data-centric world, we are constantly leaving trails of data wether it's voluntarily or unconsciously. This will lead me to talk about how data, from anything living or material, is constantly feeding the algorithms on the network. This then defies the purpose of publishing, if the data is made to grow the web, and it is no longer serving the people (gaining knowledge), but the people are serving the algorithm, then what does publishing become? There is an overproduction of data, and with the ease of data disseminating there is inevitably an excess problem. It's all being stored in huge data centres, what do we do with the junk? If our bodies carry approximately 90% of useless DNA, must there be a natural reason for this. Is nature telling us again that we can't get rid of data? Does the question then become similar to what do we do with nuclear waste? As destruction is beyond our capabilities, we just have to find a way to store it in a harmless way and make it completely inaccessible. Following accessibility in the next chapter, and considering we cannot delete, destroy or unpublish information, we are still trying so hard to block access and regulate the flow. I will give various examples here on how Net Neutrality, Laws such as 'the right to be forgotten' or content moderators, are trying to regulate the web, for better or for worse they are working against the force of nature. It does not however mean we should give up, there are some data we can control and put away or that can exist beside the network.
intro
Read this to begin: Overdue Account
Data, from 'Datum' in Latin means 'something given'. Data constantly gives, but how do you give data back? David Thorne's email thread with Jane illustrates the essence of digital information. Once data is created it can only disseminate, the very idea of receiving your data back is absurd.
Chapter 1 - the nature of information
Before entering the topic I'd like to introduce the DIKW classification model which represents the relationships between the follwing:
- Data : raw symbols or signs
- Information : data that are processed to be useful; provides answers to "who", "what", "where", and "when" questions
- knowledge : application of data and information; answers "how" questions
- Wisdom : evaluated understanding. (optional)
(first specified in detail by R. L. Ackoff in 1988) Typically information is defined in terms of data, knowledge in terms of information, and wisdom in terms of knowledge.
To Publish: is to make knowledge public. Public comes from the latin 'populus' from latin meaning 'people', so to publish is to give knowledge to people.
If we agree on these definitions, then data, the raw segments, that are available to the public are not considered as publishing.