Networks between facts & concepts Marianne van den Boomen
Natural networks Cultural networks
Nature: physical, organic & neuronal networks
Culture: social, technical & media networks
Networks may be facts… but also abstract concepts….
A network is a set of links/relations between elements/nodes of a unit
Networks everywhere
Network definition Dots stand for? Lines stand for? Colors stand for? Circles stand for?
source: form target: anything target: internet source: highway Networks as metaphors
3 root metaphors for networks 1.Telegraph 2. Nerve system 3. Diagram
1. Telegraph metaphor Telegraph: roads, pipes, wires, channels empty infrastructure for possible traffic homogeneous nodes & connection paths/lines
1. Telegraph metaphor external control by architecture, rules & protocol example: electronic highway
2. Nerve metaphor Nervous system (ecosystem, cells, DNA, brains, life) organic emergence of structure, elements & traffic heterogeneous nodes & connections/relations
2. Nerve metaphor internal control by adaptation, mutual shaping, feedback & (self)organization example: cyberspace
3. Diagram metaphor abstract representation of relations/’links’ maps of nodes & links: visual patterns
3. Diagram metaphor examples: data traffic – Twitter centers – social ties - cell metabolism - movie actors - scientific citations – hyperlinks control: internal, external?
Network: factual or conceptual? Phenomenon: ecosystemModel/metaphor: network diagram
Metaphor = theory Model/metaphor Theory Phenomenon
Network theory = network politics Theory/model: for example rhizome (or power law, or protocol, or evolution, etc) ‘Phenomenon’: network