Both the conscious plans of its constructors and what can be considered deeply “natural causes” led to the formation of a new kind of wilderness – a network of roots and vines so vast that it has the potential to modify everything it contacts and utterly change the very landscape of the forest.
Predictor: Rushkoff, Douglas
Prediction, in context:In his 1994 book “Media Virus: Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture,” Douglas Rushkoff writes: ”As an opportunity for iteration, the computer and its networks – which actually work by cycling information in nearly infinite loops – have begun to frighten those whose power is based on limiting the public’s ability to disseminate and amplify its observations and intentions. How this all came about is significant. Tracking the development of the current computer net reveals why it is so essentially chaotic; both the conscious plans of its constructors and what can be considered deeply ‘natural causes’ led to the formation of a new kind of wilderness – a network of roots and vines so vast that it has the potential to modify everything it contacts and utterly change the very landscape of the forest.”
Biography:Douglas Rushkoff, an author, social theorist, journalist and software developer, wrote the book “Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyperspace,” (Harper San Francisco, 1994) a best-selling portrait of the 1990s cyberculture. He edited “The Gen X Reader” (Ballantine, 1994), a collection of writings by the elusive, media-wary “slacker” generation. He also wrote “Media Virus! Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture” (Ballantine, 1994). In the 1990s, he regularly contributed features about pop-culture, media and technology to magazines. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: General, Overarching Remarks
Subtopic: General
Name of publication: Media Virus: Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture
Title, headline, chapter name: Chapter 8: The Net
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 236
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Stewart, Ben L.