Welcome
I have long been thinking about starting a weblog (yes I still call it that) in English. I have had a Swedish weblog since 2001 at kommenterat.net and it has been a pleasure to work with, but now I feel that I should try to find another readership - as a challenge and as an experiment. Are there actually any people left for a newly started weblog? Remains to be seen...And a good friend encouraged me to do this, so here goes. A weblog (ok, ok...blog) in English.
What, then, will this weblog be about? The current understanding states clearly that to survive in a overpublishing world you have to have a niche. I truly believe this, but must admit to being daunted by the task of actually finding that niche. I tried a few different suggestions, that I think I will share with you. If nothing else to get your feedback...
1) A blog on the later thought of Wittgenstein on theology and the grammar of the concept God. Having suggested this I could sort of hear people saying that, yes, it was niched and nice, but a readership of one may not be ideal.
2) A blog on the Swedish politics for foreigners. Ahem, yes -- I actually thought I would do that. But to inflict national Swedish politics on anyone must be considered cruel and unusual punishment, so I refrain.
3) A blog on futurism. Indeed! This is what I would really like to do, but I must specify this, because I have a very specific interest in the future, and in future studies.
A manifesto of sorts, then.
The world is facing three coming waves of innovation: we have almost lived through the first wave of the information and communication technology revolution. Robotics is around the corner closely entwined with biotechnology and the promise of nanotechnology seems to materialise (if slower than expected) on the horizon.
Innovation will not go unnoticed. All fields of human endeavour will be affected by these waves, and one must choose where to observe these changes not to be bogged down by the enormity of the task. I think, personally, that one way to delineate these future studies would be to examine how the new technologies are reported and regulated. By examining how media treats new technologies, and how these technologies are then regulated we can predict much about the reception and development of the three waves of innovation.
Media and law also interact: what is reported is what becomes the empirical and emotional (often the latter rather than the former) basis for regulatory demands from the public as well as from expert groups. By studying how the three waves interact with media and law, we thus stand a pretty good chance to observe this phenomenon up close and maybe even to predict some of what is going to happen.
One way to further try to understand the changes and to limit the study is to note that the three waves of innovation will change the way we view basic concepts in human society, and it is possible to match the waves thus:
- ICT forces us to rethink the concept of information and knowledge
- Biorobotech forces us to rethink the concept of life and the body
- Nanotech forces us to rethink the concept of matter and the material
The changes in these concepts lead to fascinating changes in society. Take the first example: the way we view information has changed and with it changes the notions of privacy, copyright and the freedom of speech to name but a few of the legal areas that are affected by the first wave of innovation. There are, or will be, similiar examples for the other two waves as well.
So, then, to summarize (OMG, this became a lengthy post indeed): this is a blog about three waves of innovation and how we report on and regulate these technologies.
Welcome.