computers have emerged as at least one evolutionary pathway of mankind’s migration from the purely physical world to the cyber-world that frames our current society. The secure cores of personal electronic devices are now the most prevalent computers in the world. They are the central element of the wireless revolution. They are the mind of a two billion mobile phones and the heart of hundreds of millions of credit cards. They’re the keys to uncountable doors and the identities of faceless, nameless and oftentimes anonymous users of computer systems and networks around the world. They encompass the most advanced hardware and software to bring personal, private computing to the world population in the most egalitarian spread of advanced technology seen in many generations. Rest assured we chose the concepts of faceless, nameless and anonymous most judiciously; they all are critical roles enabled by personal electronic devices.

Variations on the Theme

Policy is a construct that is sensitive to context. Consider the admonition from our Prologue, “Don’t talk to strangers!” If we consider the implementation of this rule, we’re first struck with the need to establish the context for the transaction to which, or within which this rule applies. Moreover, the potential consequences governed by the outcome of the transaction have tremendous bearing on the trust levels that will be necessary or acceptable in the conduct of the transaction. If the policy is being applied by one’s five-year-old daughter approached by a man in an automobile, then extreme caution is obviously required. If it’s being applied by an adult answering the telephone at the office, then a different level of required trust is appropriate. Consider the image that is conjured in our minds by the statement: “He’s a scrooge.” If we’re thinking of Ebenezer Scrooge as he appears early in the telling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, then we think of a bitter, miserly old man. On the other hand, at the end of the story we know that Scrooge “…was as good a man as the good old city knew...” The context is the defining ingredient. This suggests to us then the potential use of trusted computers in the establishment of context prior to, or as part of the application of policy. This is an area in which the best of our computer systems are just beginning to show promise of utility. To see how far we have to go, it is interesting to consider the range of the human mind in its use of context for the act of communication. Perhaps nowhere do we see the subtleties of context sensitive communication as well as through the arts.

Art is a process that can evoke transitional changes in the state of consciousness of the beholder. In various guises, different art forms address the complete sensory experience of human physiology. Through this sensory experience, the emotional as well as cognitive responses may be impacted. The result is that what might be thought of as the normal state of consciousness of the beholder is induced into an altered state. Within this state, an enhanced level of trust is attributed to the message conveyed by the art. That trust then allows the brain to record the message as part of its trust infrastructure. Once the message is recorded the brain can return to its initial state, albeit with a modified trust infrastructure which may later have consequences on its cognitive functions. We will consider these mechanisms in more detail in Chapters 4 and 5. The net consequence is that art tends to represent a direct conveyance of trust from the purveyor to the beholder.

From an historical perspective, if we consider art in all its various forms that has been passed down since the dawn of civilization, it is clear that religion has been an organizing principle. Indeed, religion takes the facility of art to stimulate a common state of consciousness among a body of participants. This brings us to the initial connection that we perceived between religion and computer networks; a foundation in the concepts of trust and subsequently derived policy

Book available at Midori Press (regular)
Book available at Midori Press (signed)
Book available at Amazon (regular)