CYBORG CULTURE
Are Cyber Language Standards Necessary or Even Viable?
The sheer volume of added participants to the Internet will result in overwhelming complexity of issues for the cyborgs. "Today over 30 million people are using the Internet system of information databases and communication services, a number expected to increase over 100 million by the end of 1998" (Beauchemin, 1995, 18). The integration process may result in anarchical chaos or a synergistic nirvana depending on how clear the map is laid out for the cyborg.
One can even question whether rules and guidelines are necessary for the cyborg as an individual or as a society. "The Internet's protocol, unfamiliar computer language, maze-like design, lack of central command, and myriad of access avenues have made the system daunting for the typical user" (Beauchemin, 1995, 18). "An absence of standards means that they same World Wide Web page may appear different on different browsers, even though each browser may receive the same initial information" (Canon, 1996, 82). But is this really a problem or just a symptom of the transformational state of the cyborg?
In true cybernetic form, the expansion of the problem proliferates not only for the user, but for the writer of the message as well. Without standards, it will be difficult for "companies that want to reflect a particular image for format-intensive material (logos, annual reports, etc.)" (Picarille, 1996, p 20). By authors lacking control over their message and having it subject to interpretation, the postmodernistic evolution of the cyborg is perpetuated.
Communicating Through Extensions
