Decision Theory, Hive Mind, & Control Theory, Their Embodiments in Tools and some consequences for Artists, Archivist, and Designers

Abstract

Whether the decision is conscious or unconscious ‘crowd sourcing’ is increasingly how we all assemble basic information. And for many the ‘cloud’ is where we present the products of our work. The ways in which these data are assembled are massively parallel. Moreover, given the present ease of taking time-dependent measurements about human decision making at the microsecond level our responses in this area are now also recorded. These decision processes may now be modeled with unprecedented certainty sometimes even at the level of individual synapses. The resulting insights in decision theory have implications for how people participate in networks and how their work product is interpreted. For designers, design researchers, artists, archivists, and curators there are a number of conceptual shifts, now well in progress, about what we consider to be an ‘image’, an ‘archive’ or a manufactured ‘object’. The author will present a brisk tour through some of the known structural and mathematical underpinnings of these changes. The initial portion of the presentation will form the basis for a shared conversation with the audience. A goal of this joint discussion will then be to develop a mutual understanding, among all of us, about the experiences and the insights of the audience as to how these shifts are affect their current work.

Key Words: Computational photography. Crowd sourcing. Fast & Slow thinking. Gigapixel image. Hierarchy & Heterarchy. Hive Mind. Murmuration. Point cloud. Schooling. Swarming. Stigmergy.