Human networks rule because we are fundamentally creatures of community

Perhaps we might learn a little from our tools. There is plenty of work done in computer science on networking, network efficiency-we might find at least metaphorical suggestions for how to network people as efficiently. Or, we might not.

There is another side to all this, and that is the role of feminism. Feminism is one of the great "isms" of the past four decades - a partial list of the others might include environmentalism and terrorism. The shift to a more "relationship" view of the world coincides, I believe, with a more active role in the world for women. Women, it seems to me, are (or have been) more socialised than men to view the world on a "relationship" rather than categorical (thing) basis. As Billy Crystal said, women need a reason to have sex, men just need a place. Perhaps, with the arguably increasing influence of women in society, this is changing, and men are seeing the value of relationships over things. Perhaps.

If it is the case that the "human face" we seek on our technology consists at least partly in a recognition that we are interdependent, then our empirical work, our work on models and theories, should surely focus on that interdependence. Our most urgent work is in understanding communities, understanding how communities form, how they are maintained, how they grow and change, how the individual fits within that community.

To refine our tools and technologies, let us understand ourselves not as individuals but as interlinked beings, as creatures of the network, creatures of community.