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Knol

we’ve been discussing. The scientific approach, when it encounters a situation that contradicts known interaction constraints, seeks to refine the understanding of the parameters surrounding the interaction in an effort to find a set of conditions that will allow the interaction to fall within the rules. The religious approach, particularly in extraordinary circumstances, is willing to entertain, as an act of faith, the possibility that an interaction can be interpreted precisely as it appears. This may mean that it is based in beyond natural means; that it is, in fact a supernatural occurrence.

It is then worth noticing again that the religious approach to problem solving is not altogether foreign to the scientist. In chemistry, a standard way to compute a property (the pH) of a solution of two constituents (base and acid) is to make an assumption of where the range of the pH should fall, which then allows one to carry out the hand computation of the result by simplifying the equations involved. If the pH indeed falls into the presumed range, the solution is deemed valid. Other examples go to the root of mathematics, such as reductio ad absurdum, where a hypothesis is posited which is then eliminated as it leads to a contradiction in the system under consideration; and inductive reasoning, where a recurring phenomenon is assumed to follow a regular law. In both these cases, an unobserved object is created, involving an act of faith. Accepting the result validates the hypothesis, similarly to the thinking involved in religious conclusions.

Creating Trust

The title as well as the theme of this chapter, “In His Own Image” can be construed as establishing trust through the creation of standard forms. “I am like God. If other people are like God, then they are like me. Therefore, I can confer a level of trust upon them because of our inherent divinity.” Consider the golden rule as a statement of policy based on this type of trust: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” We have suggested that within the human mind trust is an integral aspect of the operation of the sensori-motor system. Further, we suggest that humans have formed groups as an evolution derived mechanism to enhance the natural selection prospects of the species. The establishment of shared trust within the group is a primary requisite of any successful grouping mechanism. In our parallel evaluation of human and computer systems, we have now recognized that our knowledge of one or the other may be more advanced, depending on the characteristics sought. In evaluating trust, we have associated the degree to which it was conferred to the certainty of causality chains. For example, if it is always observed that the apple falls from the tree to the earth, the level of trust in gravity will be quite high. If it is merely often observed that celebration of common rites leads to a stronger presence in battle, would it be in sport, war or other communal undertaking, trust will be granted to those rites. Actually, the level of trust imbued in gravity is more immediately assessed than the trust imbued in ritual. With that in mind, we will now turn our attention to computer networks, and particularly to personal electronic devices.

In computer systems, causality can be traced from the most elementary forms to the most elaborate. We know, and hence trust this statement, because we have actually collectively built these various elements in recent history and all the steps that lead to today’s computers have been thoroughly documented and analyzed. While with humans, we are a long way from dissecting the causality links occurring in the brain, with computers we essentially know them all. Therefore, we can discuss them in some detail, and we’ll use that knowledge later to see if it sheds light on aspects of human networks that would otherwise be more difficult to comprehend. We use this as an approximate means to finally reach our goal, which is to use that additional understanding to predict how computer networks will evolve.

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