Untitled - socium.ge

40 Manuel Castellsis a culture of communication for the sake of communication. It is an openendednetwork of cultural meanings that can not only coexist, but also interactand modify each other on the basis of this exchange.I will illustrate the meaning of this admittedly abstract statement by reinterpretingone of the most original hypotheses that have been proposed toidentify the culture of the information age: the “hacker ethic,” in the termsconceptualized by Pekka Himanen in his influential book (Himanen, 2001),and summarized by him in chapter 19 of this volume. The hacker ethic (asexemplified in the networks of innovators that created the Internet, its applications,and much of the essential technologies of the information age) can beunderstood in two versions, both correct, and complementary in my view. Thefirst, which has received broad acceptance in intellectual and business circlesalike, refers to the culture of innovation for the sake of innovation. The passionto create replaces capital accumulation as a means of salvation. Playing isproducing. Instead of the deferred gratification pattern of the Protestant (andcapitalist) ethic, there is affirmation of an instant gratification pattern: the joyof creating and the immediate use of the creation.But there is a second, fundamental dimension in the practice of hackers andin the theory of Himanen that has been overlooked: sharing. The free sharingof knowledge and discovery is the essential mechanism by which innovationtakes place in the information age (and probably in earlier societies). Andsince innovation is the source of productivity, wealth and power, there is adirect relationship between the power of sharing and the sharing of power. So,networking for the sake of networking, being ready to learn from others andto give them what you have, could be the culture of the network society: abelief in the power of the network, in your empowerment by being open toothers, and in the joy of diversity. In the example of hacker networks, networkingis practiced on the basis of one common value: the value of creativity, thefeeling of self-realization by the exercise of the capacity of the mind to challengeand invent.So, this is my hypothesis: the culture of the network society is a culture ofprotocols of communication between all cultures in the world, developed onthe basis of a common belief in the power of networking and of the synergyobtained by giving to others and receiving from others. A process of materialconstruction of the culture of the network society is underway. But it is not thediffusion of the capitalist mind through the power exercised in the globalnetworks by the dominant elites inherited from industrial society. Nor is it theidealistic proposals of philosophers dreaming of a world of abstract,cosmopolitan citizens. It is the process by which conscious social actors ofmultiple origins bring to others their resources and beliefs, expecting in returnto receive the same, and even more: sharing a diverse world, and thus endingthe ancestral fear of the other.