IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/tefoso/v118y2017icp307-323.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Futures of a distributed memory. A global brain wave measurement (1800–2000)

Author

Listed:
  • Roth, Steffen
  • Clark, Carlton
  • Trofimov, Nikolay
  • Mkrtichyan, Artur
  • Heidingsfelder, Markus
  • Appignanesi, Laura
  • Pérez-Valls, Miguel
  • Berkel, Jan
  • Kaivo-oja, Jari

Abstract

If the global brain is a suitable model of the future information society, then one future of research in this global brain will be in its past, which is its distributed memory. In this paper, we draw on Francis Heylighen, Marta Lenartowicz, and Niklas Luhmann to show that future research in this global brain will have to reclaim classical theories of social differentiation in general and theories of functional differentiation in particular to develop higher resolution images of this brain's function and sub-functions. This claim is corroborated by a brain wave measurement of a considerable section of the global brain. We used the Google Ngram Viewer, an online graphing tool which charts annual counts of words or sentences as found in the largest available corpus of digitalized books, to analyse word frequency time-series plots of key concepts of social differentiation in the English as well as in the Spanish, French, German, Russian, and Italian sub-corpora between 1800 and 2000. The results of this socioencephalography suggest that the global brain's memory recalls distinct and not yet fully conscious biases to particular sub-functions, which are furthermore not in line with popular trend statements and self-descriptions of modern societies. We speculate that an increasingly intelligent global brain will start to critically reflect upon these biases and learn how to anticipate or even design its own desired futures.

Suggested Citation

  • Roth, Steffen & Clark, Carlton & Trofimov, Nikolay & Mkrtichyan, Artur & Heidingsfelder, Markus & Appignanesi, Laura & Pérez-Valls, Miguel & Berkel, Jan & Kaivo-oja, Jari, 2017. "Futures of a distributed memory. A global brain wave measurement (1800–2000)," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 307-323.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:118:y:2017:i:c:p:307-323
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2017.02.031
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004016251730269X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techfore.2017.02.031?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steffen Roth & Jari Kaivo-Oja, 2016. "Is the future a political economy? Functional analysis of three leading foresight and futures studies journals," Post-Print hal-01465701, HAL.
    2. Steffen Roth, 2015. "Free Economy! On 3628800 Alternatives of and to Capitalism," Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, , vol. 27(2), pages 107-128, July.
    3. Steffen Roth, 2014. "Fashionable Functions: A Google Ngram View of Trends in Functional Differentiation (1800-2000)," International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction (IJTHI), IGI Global, vol. 10(2), pages 35-58, April.
    4. Loet Leydesdorff, 2012. "The Triple Helix, Quadruple Helix, …, and an N-Tuple of Helices: Explanatory Models for Analyzing the Knowledge-Based Economy?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 3(1), pages 25-35, March.
    5. Roth, Steffen, 2015. "Free economy! On 3628800 alternatives of and to capitalism," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 27(2), pages 107-128.
    6. Last, Cadell, 2017. "Global Commons in the Global Brain," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 48-64.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Roth, Steffen & Dahms, Harry F. & Welz, Frank & Cattacin, Sandro, 2019. "Print theories of computer societies. Introduction to the digital transformation of social theory," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    2. Palmås, Karl, 2019. "From hacking to simulation: Periodizing digitally-inspired social theory," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 105-112.
    3. Roth, Steffen & Schwede, Peter & Valentinov, Vladislav & Žažar, Krešimir & Kaivo-oja, Jari, 2019. "Big data insights into social macro trends (1800–2000): A replication study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    4. Vladislav Valentinov & Constantine Iliopoulos, 2021. "Social capital in cooperatives: an evolutionary Luhmannian perspective," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 1317-1331, September.
    5. Roth, Steffen & Schwede, Peter & Valentinov, Vladislav & Pérez-Valls, Miguel & Kaivo-oja, Jari, 2020. "Harnessing big data for a multifunctional theory of the firm," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 54-61.
    6. Guy, Jean-Sébastien, 2019. "Digital technology, digital culture and the metric/nonmetric distinction," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 55-61.
    7. Ossewaarde, Marinus, 2019. "Digital transformation and the renewal of social theory: Unpacking the new fraudulent myths and misplaced metaphors," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 24-30.
    8. Steffen Roth & Vladislav Valentinov & Markus Heidingsfelder & Miguel Pérez-Valls, 2020. "CSR Beyond Economy and Society: A Post-capitalist Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 411-423, September.
    9. Wenzel, Matthias & Will, Matthias Georg, 2019. "The communicative constitution of academic fields in the digital age: The case of CSR," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 517-533.
    10. Acerbi, Alberto & Sacco, Pier Luigi, 2022. "The self-control vs. self-indulgence dilemma: A culturomic analysis of 20th century trends," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    11. Roth, Steffen, 2021. "The great reset of management and organization theory. A European perspective," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 538-544.
    12. Roth, Steffen, 2021. "The Great Reset. Restratification for lives, livelihoods, and the planet," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kaivo-oja, Jari & Roth, Steffen, 2015. "The Technological Future of Work and Robotics," EconStor Preprints 118693, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    2. Ossewaarde, Marinus, 2019. "Digital transformation and the renewal of social theory: Unpacking the new fraudulent myths and misplaced metaphors," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 24-30.
    3. Steven E. Wallis & Vladislav Valentinov, 2017. "A Limit to Our Thinking and Some Unanticipated Moral Consequences: A Science of Conceptual Systems Perspective with Some Potential Solutions," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 103-116, April.
    4. Roth, Steffen (ed.), 2015. "Non-technological and non-economic innovations: Contributions to a theory of robust innovation," EconStor Books, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 110468.
    5. Taras Gagalyuk & Vladislav Valentinov & Franziska Schaft, 2018. "The Corporate Social Responsibility of Ukrainian Agroholdings: the Stakeholder Approach Revisited," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 31(6), pages 675-698, December.
    6. Roth, Steffen & Dana, Léo-Paul, 2015. "What is a self-made expat? Self-disclosures of self-initiated expatriates," EconStor Preprints 110355, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    7. Vladislav Valentinov & Martina Bolečeková & Gabriela Vaceková, 2017. "The Nonprofit Response to the Migration Crisis: Systems-Theoretic Reflections on the Austrian and Slovak Experiences," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 30(6), pages 651-661, December.
    8. Vladislav Valentinov, 2019. "The Ethics of Functional Differentiation: Reclaiming Morality in Niklas Luhmann’s Social Systems Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 105-114, March.
    9. Durán-Romero, Gemma & López, Ana M. & Beliaeva, Tatiana & Ferasso, Marcos & Garonne, Christophe & Jones, Paul, 2020. "Bridging the gap between circular economy and climate change mitigation policies through eco-innovations and Quintuple Helix Model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    10. Xiaoran Zheng & Yuzhuo Cai, 2022. "Transforming Innovation Systems into Innovation Ecosystems: The Role of Public Policy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-26, June.
    11. Mikhail Rogov & Céline Rozenblat, 2018. "Urban Resilience Discourse Analysis: Towards a Multi-Level Approach to Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-21, November.
    12. König, Jonas & Suwala, Lech & Delargy, Colin, 2020. "Helix Models of Innovation and Sustainable Development Goals," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 1-15.
    13. Lyudmila Nikolaevna Perepechko & Galina Yakovlevna Belyakova, 2018. "The Interconnection among Science, Industry, State, and Society in Russia," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 34(4), pages 425-443, December.
    14. Elias G. Carayannis & David F. J. Campbell, 2021. "Democracy of Climate and Climate for Democracy: the Evolution of Quadruple and Quintuple Helix Innovation Systems," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(4), pages 2050-2082, December.
    15. Lee, Young Hoon & Kim, YoungJun, 2016. "Analyzing interaction in R&D networks using the Triple Helix method: Evidence from industrial R&D programs in Korean government," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 93-105.
    16. M. A. Izmailova, 2018. "The impact of digital economy on the transformation of the labor market and forming new business models," Russian Journal of Industrial Economics, MISIS, vol. 11(3).
    17. Francesco Campanella & Maria Rosaria Della Peruta & Stefano Bresciani & Luca Dezi, 2017. "Quadruple Helix and firms’ performance: an empirical verification in Europe," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 267-284, April.
    18. Russell, Martha G. & Smorodinskaya, Nataliya V., 2018. "Leveraging complexity for ecosystemic innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 114-131.
    19. Loet Leydesdorff & Han Woo Park & Balazs Lengyel, 2014. "A routine for measuring synergy in university–industry–government relations: mutual information as a Triple-Helix and Quadruple-Helix indicator," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 99(1), pages 27-35, April.
    20. Zafeirios Thomakis & Irene Daskalopoulou, 2022. "Entrepreneurial Views and Rural Entrepreneurial Potential: Evidence from Greece," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(2), pages 1611-1634, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:118:y:2017:i:c:p:307-323. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00401625 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.