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2012 | Buch

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The Reality of the Artificial

Nature, Technology and Naturoids

verfasst von: Massimo Negrotti

Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg

Buchreihe : Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistomology and Rational Ethics

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

The human ambition to reproduce and improve natural objects and processes has a long history, and ranges from dreams to actual design, from Icarus’s wings to modern robotics and bioengineering. This imperative seems to be linked not only to practical utility but also to our deepest psychology. Nevertheless, reproducing something natural is not an easy enterprise, and the actual replication of a natural object or process by means of some technology is impossible. In this book the author uses the term naturoid to designate any real artifact arising from our attempts to reproduce natural instances. He concentrates on activities that involve the reproduction of something existing in nature, and whose reproduction, through construction strategies which differ from natural ones, we consider to be useful, appealing or interesting.

The development of naturoids may be viewed as a distinct class of technological activity, and the concept should be useful for methodological research into establishing the common rules, potentialities and constraints that characterize the human effort to reproduce natural objects. The author shows that a naturoid is always the result of a reduction of the complexity of natural objects, due to an unavoidable multiple selection strategy. Nevertheless, the reproduction process implies that naturoids take on their own new complexity, resulting in a transfiguration of the natural exemplars and their performances, and leading to a true innovation explosion. While the core performances of contemporary naturoids improve, paradoxically the more a naturoid develops the further it moves away from its natural counterpart. Therefore, naturoids will more and more affect our relationships with advanced technologies and with nature, but in ways quite beyond our predictive capabilities.

The book will be of interest to design scholars and researchers of technology, cultural studies, anthropology and the sociology of science and technology.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Part I

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Daedalus and Icarus

Abstract

History and mythology agree to assign to the human ambition to build objects inspired by nature a very ancient origin. It is certain that the ambition to reproduce and improve natural objects and events constitutes for humans a sort of constant goal, almost an imperative whose achievement seems to be linked not only to practical utility, but also to people’s deepest psychology. Furthermore, when the reproduction takes the form of artistic, literary, or musical representation, the representational bias clearly shows how the externalization of one’s visions of the world is definitely a universal need for human beings.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 2. Artificiality and Naturoids

Abstract

The use of the term ‘naturoid’ calls for the resolution of an ambiguity that involves the concept of ‘artificial’ in many contexts. From a linguistic standpoint, the term artificial (artificiale in Italian, künstlich in German, artificiel in French) covers a heterogeneous area which should be clarified before we proceed. In all languages, this concept seems to generically indicate all that is “man-made” or “not natural” and, at the same time, though more rarely, something which tries to imitate things existing in nature.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 3. Duplicating Reality

Abstract

Whoever has some familiarity with an electronic copier knows exactly what is meant with the term ‘copy’: the reproduction of a document or an image onto another sheet of paper. The copy may be black and white or color, but, in any case, it is nothing but a photograph, at a given resolution, of the original document.

Massimo Negrotti

Part II

Frontmatter

Chapter 4. The First Step: Observation

Abstract

Whoever wants to design a naturoid, i.e., a man—engineer, artist or other who is attracted by the idea of reproducing something natural—is strongly characterized by a special way of viewing the world.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 5. Observation and Representations

Abstract

The limitation of our observation capacities to only one level at a time means that the naturoid which is made at the end of the design and building process in no way will be the reproduction of the exemplar in its entirety, that is to say an object that could be identified with the natural instance at any observation level. This would be true even if we could use the same materials and procedures used by nature. Though this case lies outside the field of the artificial properly defined, even in the above circumstance we would be forced to use only those natural materials we have observed and not, of course, those remaining hidden and detectable only at other levels. This is a well-known fact for all those who have tried to reproduce some kind of fruit, flower or even some of their alimentary derivatives, using the same seeds and the same procedures nature does, but neglecting, or completely ignoring at all, other components—such as the composition of the air or the climatic dynamics—which make the development or the production of the exemplars possible.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 6. The Exemplar and Its Definition

Abstract

As we said, the exemplar is the natural object or process which is chosen as the target of the reproduction. More precisely, we should say that a naturoid is the reproduction of the representation of the exemplar, which the artificialist generated in his own mind. Models, even purely mental ones—in the technological design as well as in art—are examples of formalized representations which function as pilot maps or schemes of the natural object or process which we wish to reproduce.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 7. Essentiality of Things

Abstract

The choice of an observation level and an exemplar are the first two steps in the process which ultimately leads to the design of an artificial object. Nevertheless, the choice of an exemplar is not the final conclusive defining moment of what will be done. As soon as the problem of the delimitation of the exemplar—which we discussed in the previous section—is solved, we are faced with a new and decisive step. This moment could be defined as the choice, or the attribution, of an essential performance for the exemplar.

Massimo Negrotti

Part III

Frontmatter

Chapter 8. The Mind Reduces Complexity, Reality Does Not Make Discounts

Abstract

In 1983, in one of the rare works dedicated to the artificial, the Italian biologist, M. Rizzotti, though orienting his discussion towards an understanding of this concept.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 9. The Problem of Synthesis

Abstract

The situations within which scientists and technologists act, above all those regarding the technology of naturoids, are surely complicated, permanently, by our incapacity to place ourselves simultaneously at more than one observation level. Though scientific methodology has developed several techniques for controlling more than one variable, de facto our theories and models always unavoidably focus on some aspect or profile that is always considered as central. All you have to do is consider the history of recent science to realize how true is.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 10. Transfiguration

Abstract

A famous Latin saying states: senatores boni viri, senatus mala bestia (senators are good men, but the Senate is a bad beast). In general terms, this means that the coexistence of single entities of a given kind may give rise to a very different sort of whole which cannot be explained by or limited to, the ‘qualities’ of its components considered individually.

Massimo Negrotti

Part IV

Frontmatter

Chapter 11. Classification of Naturoids

Abstract

Using our reasoning, we can now propose a classification of naturoids on the basis of their main features. First of all, we have seen how the technology of naturoids has always led to two opposite kinds of activity depending on the concrete or abstract nature of the ‘substance’ by means of which the final product is designed and realized. Since man has always possessed and shown a distinct tendency to reproduce whatever surrounds him—and also whatever has a primary origin in himself, such as feelings, self-portrait, etc.—it is not surprising that the entire history of man is intensely characterized by the invention and development of the most varied technologies aimed precisely at the material expression, communication or reproduction of exemplars of every kind.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 12. Automatisms and Naturoids

Abstract

There is a region of the “naturoids kingdom”, called the region of automatisms, which is found at the boundary between conventional technology and the technology of naturoids. We can find examples of automatisms dating back to ancient times, including the Egyptian technology of the pyramids. What dominates in this area is what we could define as the principle of substitution, the substitution of a technological device for actions once carried out by man.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 13. Naturoids in Real Contexts: Bionic Man and Robots

Abstract

An artificialist’s greatest aspiration, needless to say, is the reproduction of man. Marvin Minsky, among others, maintains that exploiting robot and artificial intelligence technology in order to repair our body.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 14. The Challenge of Complexity

Abstract

One of the most important conclusions that we reach using the theory of naturoids is that, given any exemplar, its faithful and overall reproduction is hindered, first of all, by the impossibility of describing it fully and faithfully. This insurmountable obstacle, as we have seen, is a result of the selective character of our observation: we cannot consider and describe any kind of object by simultaneously taking into account all the observation levels available and, even less likely, all the possible levels, of course. However, this is precisely what we must do, though ideally, for a complete reproduction of the exemplar.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 15. Illusion and Compatibility

Abstract

Every organized system defends its boundaries in order to safeguard its identity, and biological systems are masters at this. In this sense we can assert that the theme of biocompatibility and biofunctionality sums up well a part of our comments regarding the difficult and perhaps, beyond certain limits, prohibitive ambition of reproducing natural objects—for example, human beings—capable of engaging in normal relationships with the rest of the environment or organism.

Massimo Negrotti

Part V

Frontmatter

Chapter 16. Naturoids: Interface and Camouflage

Abstract

While naturoids always need to interface with nature through ad hoc devices, the naturoid itself can appear as an interface. This is the case for a whole series of objects or devices, which have been used in military camouflage. Such devices and objects are now coming out on the market, especially in the US. Their purpose is to protect local environments—for example a residence—from the surrounding environment. The same is true of the products of Larson Utility Camouflage in Tucson, Arizona.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 17. Structure or Process?

Abstract

The exemplar and essential performance always involve an unlimited number of observation levels, but, as we might imagine, designers can only consider the levels they have knowledge of or, from among these, the ones that seem more easily approachable from both a scientific and a reproductive standpoint. The exemplar and essential performance always involve an unlimited number of observation levels, but, as we might imagine, designers can only consider the levels they have knowledge of or, from among these, the ones that seem more easily approachable from both a scientific and a reproductive standpoint.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 18. Artificial Limbs: History and Current Trends

Abstract

It is said that the Rigveda, an ancient Indian poem, contains the first reference to a prosthesis. Written in Sanskrit between 3500 and 1800 B.C., it tells the story of a warrior, Vishpala, who, having lost a leg in battle, was fitted with a metal leg so that he could continue to fight. Likewise, the Celtic god New Haw was said to have four silver fingers.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 19. The Artificial Brain

Abstract

Although the expression ‘artificial brain’, which was somewhat accepted in the 1950 and 1960s, is now obsolete, artificial intelligence research seems to be once again heading towards this objective after almost 50 years of attempts in which terms such as ‘artificial mind’, ‘reasoning’, ‘understanding’ and ‘intelligence’ have been used instead of ‘artificial brain’.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 20. Prostheses, Replacements and Surrogates

Abstract

Findings of prostheses have been brought to light since the fifth Egyptian Dynasty. Recently, on the border between Iran and Afghanistan, an artificial eyeball was found dating to 5,000 years ago and constructed of lightweight materials derived from bitumen paste which was carefully finished with the design center of the iris and an effective gold ‘ray of light’.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 21. Artificial Environments and Landscapes

Abstract

Among the objects of nature which are today most often assumed as exemplars, we can find elements of the landscape or climate, such as rocks, snow, grass, rain, islands, caves, mountains, ponds, lakes and many others.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 22. Virtual Reality

Abstract

Deception, in the broader sense intended here, illusion, through a whole series of side effects, and also the potential utility of the artificial, converge, in the end, in Virtual Reality technology. This technology consists of devices which generate three-dimensional moving pictures on a stereoscopic monitor applied in front of the eyes in a special helmet. It is an artificial environment in which it is possible to interact, for example, by virtually moving in a room or virtually exploring the human body from the inside. Although this technology has aroused the usual controversy between enthusiastic supporters and detractors who are afraid of the possible ‘loss of a sense of identity and reality’, some of the most interesting applications are once again in the field of medicine. Indeed, it is possible, by means of virtual reality machines, to visit a patient or operate on him (telesurgery) even though he is far away from the doctor. In 1995, the demonstration presented by the DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) biomedical program was oriented in this direction; this program consisted of carrying out a surgical procedure with a robot which acted on the command of doctors who ‘operated’ using a monitor many kilometers away from the patient. Thus, we have a chain of naturoids (the viewing of the patient’s body by means of telecameras and computers, the robot’s arms and hands which intervene on the physical reality of the patient) whose coordination presents several difficulties, including the transmission speed of the signals in both directions, which is most important.

Massimo Negrotti

Chapter 23. Conclusions

Abstract

Conventional technology and the technology of naturoids, respectively, generate machines and processes as non-natural realities. While conventional technology aims right from the beginning to give rise to things which do not exist in nature, the technology of naturoids, though it wishes to generate things inspired by natural exemplars, cannot avoid transfiguring them to some degree.

Massimo Negrotti

Backmatter

Titel: The Reality of the Artificial
verfasst von: Massimo Negrotti
Verlag: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-642-29679-6
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-29678-9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29679-6