La recherche de Thot

par Jane Ginn

Au début de 1998 I visited some of the most important historical sites along the Nile in Egypt. At several of the ancient temples I was struck by the images of the ancient Egyptian god Thoth. Based on research I had conducted prior to the trip I knew that Thoth was the patron of the scribes, une grande, classe instruite et puissant en Egypte d'environ 2,000 BC to about 30 Colombie-Britannique. This bureaucracy of elite scribes promoted the cooperation of the people with the various Pharaohs through elaborate religious rituals aimed at the various gods that were worshiped at that time. Thoth, le dieu des scribes, is usually depicted with the head of an ibis or a baboon.

Il a été considéré comme l'un des dieux, avec son épouse Maât, qui a maintenu l'univers[dans]. Thoth was seen as an arbiter of godly disputes, le seigneur des arts de la magie, le créateur du système d'écriture, and the progenitor of science. Thoth was evident in many of the carvings I photographed in my visits to temples at Edfu, Louxor et d'autres sites.

Le pouvoir de la classe scribe dans l'Egypte ancienne ne fait que commencer à être concurrencée.

Puis, l'énorme bureaucratie qui a émergé pour gérer la construction des pyramides et les temples divers a été activée par l'utilisation de la langue écrite, known only to the scribes. C'est grâce à cette entente sur la langue que le pouvoir et le contrôle ont été affirmé. Maintenant, les scribes des sont ceux qui comprennent et utilisent la puissance de l'Internet. Ils sont appelés les programmeurs et les développeurs de logiciels et les administrateurs réseau. They are information technology specialists. They are the sales people and the marketers and inventors in the high technology world. They are also the security specialists and the hackers. Where is Thoth for these people, les nouveaux maîtres de la société moderne?

Créateur du système de l'écriture

Dans 2010 Douglas Rushkoff écrit un livre intitulé Programmer ou être programmé: Dix Commandements pour l'ère du numérique. Il y exposait sur la façon dont nous pouvons utiliser des outils numériques pour améliorer notre humanité, rather than extract from it. He uses simple constructs like temps et lieu to reflect on the larger issues of how we engage with the world. He also deals with complexité, identité et échelle, among other key concepts. My purpose here today is not to detail his commands; it is a quick read and well worth your time. I highly recommend it. Plutôt, Je mentionne le livre ici parce que je voudrais utiliser le titre comme un tremplin place pour relier les points avec mon thème clé, celui du contrôle par la connaissance.

Pour ceux d'entre vous qui ne connaissent rien au sujet du génie logiciel, vous savez que l'art et la science de développer des langages de programmation a connu une évolution majeure au cours de la dernière 30 ans. The COmmon Business-Oriented Language (COBOL) was one of the first languages used for business and financial applications. From the 1985 American National Standards Institute (ANSI) version it was considered to be a “structured language construct.” Structured programming makes extensive use of subroutines, block structures and “for” and “while” loops to improve the clarity and quality of the code. With the onset of distributed computing the need arose for a programming model that could execute in a distributed environment. That was when the idea of Object-Oriented Programming (POO) was developed. It is built on the notion that discrete reusable units of programming logic can be deployed as it relates to commands and functions that are specific to a predefined “object.” An object might be a single user’s profile or a bank account or a character in a computer game. These ‘objects’ could then be deployed and controlled in a non-linear context, contrairement aux modèles de programmation structurée.

Au cours de la dernière 10+ years there have been many different languages that have been developed. Each one carries its own rules and syntax and each one is aimed at solving different problems on different pieces of equipment and over different types of networks. The theme that runs through each of these languages is logic. If there is a Thoth equivalent in modern time, il pourrait être caractérisé comme la logique.

Mais l'écosystème technologies de l'information est plus qu'une simple logique de programmation et de génie logiciel; il est un complexe d'interactions entre logiciels, matériel, réseaux et les humains qui contrôlent l'ensemble de ces fonctions.

Géniteur de la Science

Alors, quand j'utilise le terme logique, que vais-je référence à? In Western civilization Aristotle established Logic as a formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. It is integral to mathematics, informatique (et l'intelligence artificielle), and semantics. In the field of philosophy the study of logic is split into: 1) raisonnement inductif, et 2) deductive reasoning. For our purposes here I am using it to convey a way of thinking.

In ancient Egypt the use of complex religious rituals to venerate and serve the various gods enabled the scribes to obfuscate their slavish traditions. Some moderns would argue that the Internet, and the language of technology serves the same function. Although built on principles of logic it is functioning as a fulcrum to further, plutôt que de réduire, the digital divide. The cultural clashes, les craquelins rouge, the porn purveyors and other fringe uses of the Internet tool have alienated many people. The growing unease about the potential for cyber war and the reality of cyber crime is forcing the confrontation between those that want to regulate the medium and those that want to keep the Internet totally free of “government” interference. The Internet as merely a technical tool is a dream of the past; ses utilisations sont maintenant tellement politisé que la notion de la logique et la science sont maintenant comme des ombres sur le mur de la grotte.

Arbitre de [...] Les différends

This elusive Thoth that represented so much to so many people over so many centuries had another function. He was, comme je l'ai indiqué ci-dessus, l'arbitre des différends pieux.

Si nous laissons tomber la notion de «divin» comme il convient pour ce sujet profane, et se concentrer sur la notion de l'arbitrage, nous voyons que, En effet, the Internet fulfills that role. The democratization of information is purported to be one of the key instigators of the Arab Spring and other populist uprisings that characterized political action in 2011.

So now we find ourselves back in Egypt. Only now, nous ne sommes pas coulée de retour 2,000+ ans, mais nous sommes, plutôt, smack dab in the middle of an ideological dispute about the future of the country. In recent remarks by the Minister of International Cooperation (Faiza Aboul Naga, à un groupe de juges) she claimed that “America is behind the anarchy” that the Egyptians have seen recently. Her remarks have resulted in the incarceration of workers from non-governmental organizations (ONG) et mettent en péril le programme de longue date de l'aide internationale des États-Unis. pour l'Egypte. The Internet, lui-même, is implicated here. The democratization of information and the feeling of empowerment that the Egyptian people have developed have given them the strength to stand up to governance actions that are not seen to be in the best interests of the people. We are seeing this all over the world at this time. Mais, for an entrenched bureaucratic military regime, that is too easy of an explanation. It is much more convenient to find a scapegoat.

Les scribes nouvelles

Le déchaînement de la langue de l'Internet en faisant l'interface utilisateur conviviale (i, navigateurs, e-mail, applications téléchargeables, etc) has served as a catalyst for this political change. Like the old Pharaohs that wanted to hold onto power after the Ptolemaic reign had run its course, the modern Generals and lawmakers in Egypt needed a scapegoat. Faiza Abul Naga found one in her blame game. Malheureusement, cela ne prend pas en compte les nombreux millions de dollars que les contribuables des États-Unis. ont envoyé dans son pays pour essayer de construire l'infrastructure et de stabiliser l'économie.

Voici un résumé récent de la U.S. l'aide étrangère en Egypte depuis 2001 that was compiled by Vaughn Aubuchon.

Cliquez sur l'image pour l'agrandir

Réglage des considérations stratégiques pour le canal de Suez côté, US citizens occupied with their own economic and financial problems are not likely to tolerate continued support of an Egyptian regime that exploits old unenforced laws for the purpose of finding a scapegoat for their own inadequate performance in governance. The best course of action here would be a diplomatic one that offers clemency for the NGO workers and reduced involvement by the US and other western nations in the Egyptian reconstruction.

That would be a win/win situation. Mais, bien sûr, ces types de solutions sont tout aussi insaisissable que Thoth était aux scribes.