A Paper given in the Force of Metadata Conference, 29th November, 2008, Goldsmiths, University of London. It explores the idea of relation in Hume’s philosophy, and points to the nature of the networks in semantic web, which characterize a new form of production.
The economy of the web has been termed “user generated content”, nevertheless it is misleading. Now metadata is taking over content and changes both the products and mode of production of the web. Taking the approach of Gilbert Simondon, this paper tries to analyse the web economy from the point of view of machines, especially the current development in information retrieval and the vision of Semantic Web, in two aspects: the production of networks and the networks of production. It tries to identify “relation” as the basic unit in these productions, and suggests a new way of understanding the current and future web economy by exploring David Hume’s theory of relations on the growth of complexity and recursion in algorithmic thinking.
Powerpoint of the presentation: production-of-networks
