ABSTRACT
The postmodern world has moved from gardenspace to cyberspace. Norbert Wiener, in his classic 1948 work Cybernetics, coined the word “cybernetics” for the new automatic technology. Stacy Horn has written a new book called Cyberville: Clicks, Culture, and the Creation of an Online Town. How far can and will we democratize cyberspace? The inventor of cybernetics intended to act as its conscience, asking: What if cybernetics is left wholly in the control of short-sighted, profit-maximizing corporations? From gardenspace to cyberspace is a jolting leap, not only in technology but in metaphysics. The planners, with the slogan “Brave and Bold,” envisioned Cyberjaya as “somewhat like California’s Silicon Valley,” starting as a local interactive grid, then joining up with others worldwide. “Cyber” is spreading like a media virus, and turns up everywhere.
