Chapter two gave you a tantalizing glimpse into the possibilities available with the biotelemorphic cell. Yet this is only the tip of the iceberg. This book is going to take you very much further than this.
We have yet to see the power which can be unleashed by the RAM objects themselves. They can be arranged to carry images and sounds which they themselves can put onto the screen at any time. They can be given memories and personalities. They can be given powers of computation and logic, perhaps even simulated emotions and intelligence. Certainly they can be made to learn, adapt and evolve (as was demonstrated in the CD-ROM "How God Makes God" which was published in 1993).
All this can be achieved through the organizational power of text documents and will be demonstrated by practical examples later in this book.
We shall be dealing with the holistic effects of having many RAM objects combining together and cooperating on complex operations. We shall see the effects of many different documents contributing to and modifying the activities of these interacting systems.
We shall be seeing what happens when the biotelemorphic cell is equipped with an Internet protocol engine. We shall be seeing how documents and RAM objects make use of this engine to bring in new documents, scripts, objects and all kinds of media from the Web; seeing cells sending out documents and installing Web pages for other biotelemorphic cells to read.
We saw what happened when five simple emails from a folder on the hard disk took control of the cell. Now try to imagine text documents having the power to pass on control to other text documents on the Web: for the control to pass from Web page to Web page. Technically, this is no more complicated than passing on control from one text document to another text document located on the hard disk (all it needs is a small addition to the parent script of the humanOverRide object for it to be able to use the protocol engine to read and parse Web pages).
Imagine. These imported Web pages of text using the cell and protocol engines to import their own sounds and graphics; bringing them into the cell from sources around the world. All it takes is for another very little additional scripting of the humanOverRide object for any media item on the Web to be at the beck and call of the controlling text documents.
We shall be seeing how text documents can create new text documents; how text documents can modify each other; how text documents can change adapt and evolve (this is very similar to the techniques used for self modifying objects which were covered in chapter 14 of "Lingo Sorcery - the magic of lists object and intelligent agents" which was published in1996 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. We shall also be seeing how Web pages can be used as system variables; how they can be used in repeat loops and conditional logic gates.
By using text documents and Web pages like the molecules involved in molecular and cell biology, cascades of actions can be triggered from single events. As will be demonstrated later, a simple button click could result in monumental activity involving hundreds of documents and media from far and wide across the Web: assembling, combining and interacting within the confines of a single biotelemorphic cell.
Of even more sensational potential, will be the ability of a biotelemorphic cell to control and design itself. In the engine code of every cell is the ability of the cell to modify or create its own objects in RAM, to be able to write out its own text documents to disk or send them across the Internet: by email or installing them as Web pages using the protocol engine. We shall be demonstrating this in later chapters.
Only a little thought will let you realize that what may have seemed wild speculations in the introduction to this book, are in fact real possibilities: the Internet and the World Wide Web can be dominated by documents and biotelemorphic cells, independent of human control and supervision. Science fiction writers eat your heart out.
But is it science fiction? It has already happened. This exact scenario, in a physically different setting, has already been played out by nature. This is the story of evolutionary biology.
At the end of chapter two it was pointed out that the experiment with the emails had taken the control of the biotelemorphic cell outside of the cell itself. The center of gravity had moved - but moved to where? It is in the understanding of this "where" which requires the greatest conceptual jump.
When a business is modeled in a spread sheet, where is the center of gravity of that model? Where does that model exist? When a bivouac of army ants builds a a bridge, or, a colony of termites builds a cathedral-like structure, where is the central organization?
This is no simple problem of comprehension. It is a problem where the answer can give an explanation for life itself.
We know, as one of the species of life on this planet, we are made up from a collection of communicating cells. Theses cells are manipulated with chemical messages and complex molecules in the same way as text can manipulate a biotelemorphic cell. Within each cell is a vast colony of symbiotic viruses and bacteria. These combine with each other in complex interactions between themselves and the DNA of the cell nucleus in exactly the same way as software objects interact with each other and the engine of code in a biotelemorphic cell.
Where is the organizing power that brings all this complexity together to form a human shape, or, the shape of any life-form? It is no good looking into the cell for the answer. The answer lies in looking at the phenomena of an abstract entity known as the "gene pool". This exists as a physical reality which cannot be located specifically in any individual cell or even in any life-form created from the cells. It is an abstract property of the species as a whole. Individuals are born as a temporary instance of the total genes within the gene pool.
It is in this same sense that we shall be looking at avatars created on the Internet. We shall be seeing them as instances of the combined temporary coming together of biotelemorphic cells, objects, documents, messages and media.
As to having an understanding as to where it is going; where the center of gravity is and what is the driving force, currently we are not much better off than the ancient Eastern Buddhas and Zen masters. They gave us a conceptual framework to contemplate this phenomenon, but, not the tools to explore and experiment. We now have an edge over those ancient mystics - we have the tools and an environment to experiment with, so, it shouldn't take us thousands of years to better their explanations.
Our first examples have been with a biotelemorphic cell made from Macromedia's Director authoring environment. This has many limitations, but, we shall also be creating biotelemorphic cells in Allegiant's SuperCard and Apple Computer's HyperCard. These will soon both be cross platform with Internet protocol engines and will offer many advantages over the Director cell.
There are many other cells we shall be playing with such as Adobe's "Acrobat" and MicroSoft's "Visual Basic". There are the Java cells and the giant cells of Netscape's "Navigator" and MicroSoft's "Explorer". Most of the major software companies will be bringing out players and protocol facilities within the next year or two. Each in a limited specialized way will be able to contribute to the overall complexity and versatility of the Internet and the World Wide Web.
The beauty is that we are not limited to the use of single biotelemorphic cells. Just as we can have several types of objects in the RAM space of a single cell we can have several biotelemorphic cells, of different makes, operating together in the total RAM space of a single computer. All it needs is for these different makes of cell to be able to communicate, swap messages, data and media for them all to work together in a common environment - just like different types of workers using their different skills in complimentary ways to complete a multi-skilled project.
Of course, these biotelemorphic cells are not going to replace everything else on the Web, they will exist side by side with the conventional browsers, plug-ins and other applications which are using Web documents coded in HTML or other proprietary formats. However, the engine code of the biotelemorphic cell does contain the code necessary to open other applications and get them to run their documents when needed - so, perhaps one day, the descendants of the biotelemorphic cell may take over from the giant all purpose HTML browsers - in the same way as the little mammals once took over from the dinosaurs.
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The intention is for this book to be published as a regular book before the end of 1997. There will also be a separate project to create a CD-ROM to include as many examples as possible.
However, the really big adventure is going to be in the immediate continuation of this current Web publication on-line - as it is being written and developed. This beginning introduction and chapters, starting off by using conventional HTML Web pages, is soon going to continue in the form of manifestations within biotelemorphic cells. After all, if this concept is so powerful, ought it not to be used to explain itself? Not only will readers be able to receive "live" demonstrations of the biotelemorphic cell in action, they will also be able to take part in the demonstrations themselves.
If you want to know more about the continuation of this work, send an email to Peter Small at peter@genps.demon.co.uk
copyright 1997 Peter Small - No part of this document can be used or reproduced in any form without express permission
Details of book, CD-ROM and online continuation - peter@genps.demon.co.uk