《网络市民》-英文网络文化新书- 科技百科 -互联网博物馆，你我的知识加油站

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基本信息编辑本段 回目录

Netizens

《网民：论新闻组网和互联网的历史和影响》

作者比较关注的是推动网络往前发展的力量而非是网络发展的最终结果，这样的观点提供了一个强有利的基础，帮助我们去思考网络将会如何的发展、又将会如何的影响我们的社会。

Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet (Perspectives) (Hardcover)

by Michael Hauben Ronda Hauben Thomas Truscott

Hardcover: 361 pages

Publisher: Wiley-IEEE Computer Society Pr; 1st edition (April 27, 1997)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0818677066

ISBN-13: 978-0818677069

英文书稿全文阅读：http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/

内容简介编辑本段 回目录

作者比较关注的是推动网络往前发展的力量而非是网络发展的最终结果，这样的观点提供了一个强有利的基础，帮助我们去思考网络将会如何的发展、又将会如何的影响我们的社会。不过，这本书仍旧有它的缺点---它比较像是一本文献资料的集合而比较缺乏整体性。

本书可概分为四个部分，第一个部分主要是提供一些关于他们历史的分析取向的基础，以Usenet作为例子，讨论网络作为一个交互式的沟通平台，以及建立于其上的虚拟社群。第二个部分的焦点转移到比较传统性的历史回顾。第三个部分又转回到一些新近的议题上，其中两个章节是讨论到网络转变到广告化及私有化的历史，另一个章节是响应NTIAs在1994年举办的“虚拟研讨会”，该会主要的议题是有关于普遍服务及开放近用。另两章是讲到网络与新闻，以及纽约新闻集团在网络上的一段小冒险。第四部分被称做“对于发展一个理论架构的贡献”，是由三段没有关联的但是属于理论性质的部分所组成。

作者简介编辑本段 回目录

美国哥伦比亚大学朗达·豪本(Ronda Hauben)一家(丈夫杰伊·豪本[Jay Hauben]，儿子迈克尔·豪本[MichaelHauben])均是互联网史研究专家。2O世纪9O年代初，朗达和迈克尔开始研究新闻组网和互联网的历史及其社会影响，迈克尔还是"netizen"一词的发明者。1994年，他们将其研究汇成专著在网上发布，1997年该书正式出版，书名为《网民：论新闻组网和互联网的历史和影响》。

Ronda Hauben女士－美国互联网专家

Ronda Hauben女士是一个专注于互联网和网民的历史及社会影响方面的研究人员。她曾发表许多文章，最近发表的一篇关于网民对韩国的影响的文章还被收录进《2007韩国年鉴》。毕业于美国塔夫茨大学（Tufts University）文学硕士，曾多次受邀前往欧洲、亚洲、北美和非洲发表演讲。Ronda Hauben女士作为一名记者还为韩国的OhmyNews International和德国的Telepolis这两个新闻机构撰稿，并在德国的Taz报社网站开设自己的博客。

Ronda Hauben女士和Michael Hauben先生合著了《Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet》一书。该书已在IEEE计算机学会发表，且由John Wiley and Sons出版社出版发行。

On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet By Michael Hauben and Ronda Hauben, Netizens Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press, 1997. Reviewed by Benjamin J. Bates

随着网络即将进入到它的第三个世代，我们可以开始发现，书写相关议题的作者渐渐从仅是理论性的、推测性的视野，转到以历史取向来看待计算机网络科技的发展及其影响。本书两位作者Michael and Ronda Hauben亦是采取这样的历史取向，同时引用了许多有趣的典轶文章以及他们自己在网络使用上的经验。他们的立论根据作者Haubens之前所提出的网络起源说，认为网际网络的出现是因为几股不同的科技发展及使用的趋势，包括一些早期的网络系统，像是BITNET, FIDOnet，还有发展成开放性平台的系统，像是UNIX，以及在使用上得到高评价的Usenet。

简评编辑本段 回目录

Michael Hauben（1995）认为计算机是由一群「网络公民」（citizen of net）所组成，由于网络新闻群组（newsgroup）对于网络相关议题讨论区的取名法为net.x（x是扩展名），因此关于这群网络公民的讨论区即成为net.citizen。Hauben因此将「网络公民」Net Citizen改称为Netizen，意指在具备社群和参与意识的网际网络上，对网络发展有或多或少各种不同贡献的人们，其中并不包含单纯上网孤立潜伏、游荡不羁而无任何贡献的使用者。然现今Netizen多泛指所有网络使用者，中文一般简译为「网民」（转引自徐千伟，2000）。

“我们已注意到中国‘Netizens’的力量，”7月6日，美国互联网研究者Ronda Hauben和Jay Hauben在接受记者采访时说。几年前，Michael Hauben在多年研究基础上创造了新词“Netizens”（取Net和citizen），并与Ronda一起完成了《Netizens》一书的写作。这些年，Ronda正与Jay继续研究中国和韩国“Netizens”的积极行为。Michael Hauben认为，“Netizens”是人类网络行为重点，但并非所有上网的人都是“Netizens”，该词指向那些理解网络对公共社会的影响并决定贡献自己时间和精力以共享作为社会财富的知识和思想的人

书评编辑本段 回目录

民主的网络问题

“各种新的技术，不断加深我们对民主的思考。如何贯彻网络民主，将是我们生活面临的一个重要问题。在这个崭新的领域，人类维持了2000年的理想，将面临挑战。不过，我们也许还有新的机会。”

1990年代早期，人们对网络充满玫瑰色憧憬。1993年，迈克尔·霍本(Michael　Hauben)曾写过一篇论文，题目为《网络及市民——网络及其对人们生活的影响》，此后，他又在此基础上出版了《网络市民》(Netizens)一书。

在这本书中，霍本对未来的网络世界做了大胆预言，认为网络市民“肯定都是亲切友好的，他们热情回答询问、全神贯注地投入讨论。通过长期的志愿劳动，网络市民为全世界的人民带来善意的关系”。在《网络市民》中，霍本记录了他与网络市民的对话。霍本曾问，网络是否可定义为“社会、经济资产”，那些网络市民则答道，网络是“正确信息的宝库”。

在《网络市民》中，霍本认为，在地域社会中，网络不但是一种商业网络，而且是“共同体网络”，在共同体居住的市民，通过网络与世界连接，构成一个全球性共同体。市民通过网络，获得地域或政府的信息，扩大了民主参与范围。

其实，在网络政治学领域，对网络技术与民主社会之间的关系，存在一种对立。拥护网络自由一派认为，在网络日益进化的现代，网络技术手段日益改变现实政治，例如人们通过电子投票，来实现直接民主。上述霍本的想法，其实代表了这种网络上的乐观主义。他们相信网络中存在言论自由市场，只要通过这种市场交流，网络就自然会促进社会民主。而对加强网络管理的主张，他们则齐声反对，认为这是违反网络自由的本质。

但是，另外一个方面，网络保守主义也值得注意。这方面的代表人物有美国最重要的互联网思想家之一卡斯·桑斯坦(Cass Sunstein)。他在《网络共和国》(Republic.com)中指出了网络对民主社会的现实威胁。

在这本书中，桑斯坦指出的两种现象值得注意，首先是“群体极化”(group polarization)倾向。因为网络给人选择提供了便利，小集团很容易跨越地域、国境集结，他们形成众多分散、独立的小型集团。这种小型集团之内，意见不同的异己将被驱除，极端言论、思想很容易蔓延，形成“仇恨集团”，甚至实施“恐怖行为”。

桑斯坦还指出，在网络社会中“网络洪瀑”(cyber cascade)现象的危险性。因为在网络中，虚假、似是而非的传言，往往会通过网络瞬时增大。尽管未经证实，但众多接受传言的人认为，他人也拥有同样想法。这种传言也是民主社会的威胁。

网络究竟向哪个方向发展，存在很多难以把握的因素。几年前，网上曾流传一个电影，表现了技术发展的前景。假如这个前景变成现实，依照桑斯坦的解释，则会是一个非常悲观的前景。

这个电影预言，在2014年，Google与Amazon(亚马孙)合并成为一个新公司googlezon，这家新公司推出EPIC(Evolving　Personalized Information　Construct，可译为“进化型个人信息系统”)。这个系统，打败了所有旧有媒体。

因为这个系统完全可以根据利用者的喜好、所在地区以及兴趣来自动选择、编辑网上的信息，为利用者个人出版一份专用的报纸。这份报纸所收集的内容包括网上所有最新图片、手机照片、博客内容，也包括所有网上报纸的内容，只不过，这个系统将其他报纸内容通过文法重新改造，变成一种新型表达。这种技术系统打败了《纽约时报》，迫使该报下线，沦为一张专为上了年岁的精英阅读的报纸。

上述技术系统，虽然保障了个人选择的自由，但是却否定了另外两个重要的前提，即面对不同意见的机会、市民共同经验这两点。

为了避免分裂，桑斯坦建议在网络社会建立一种新型制度。其中两点很有意思，即在非常人气网页上，须有链接有关其他网页的义务。此外，在高支持率政党网页之上，须链接相反意见政党网页。

各种新的技术，不断加深我们对民主的思考。如何贯彻网络民主，将是我们生活面临的一个重要问题。在这个崭新的领域，人类维持了2000年的理想，将面临挑战。不过，我们也许还有新的机会。

书摘编辑本段 回目录

第一部分/第一章

[编辑] Section 1
Chapter 1

第一章

THE NET AND NETIZENS: The Impact the Net has on People\'s Lives
By Michael Hauben
hauben@columbia.edu

网络与网民:网络对人民生活的影响

迈克尔·郝本

hauben@columbia.edu

PREFACE

前言

Welcome to the 21st Century. You are a Netizen (a Net Citizen), and you exist as a citizen of the world thanks to the global connectivity that the Net makes possible. You consider everyone as your compatriot. You physically live in one country but you are in contact with much of the world via the global computer network. Virtually you live next door to every other single Netizen in the world. Geographical separation is replaced by existence in the same virtual space.

欢迎光临二十一世纪。此时，你不仅是一位网民(网络公民)，还是一位世界公民，这得感谢网络，是它连通了全世界，让你能够把每个人都看作自己的同胞。你虽身处一国，却能通过全球计算机网络同世界大部分地区的人们交往。在虚拟世界，你与世界上每一位网民仅一墙之隔。地理的分隔已经消失，因为我们生存在同一虚拟空间。

The situation I describe is only a prediction of the future, but a large part of the necessary infrastructure currently exists. The Net - or the Internet, BITNET, FIDOnet, other physical networks, Usenet, VMSnet, and other logical networks and so on - has rapidly grown to cover all of the developed countries in the world.(1) Everyday more computers attach to the existing networks and every new computer adds to the user base - at least twenty seven million people are interconnected today.

我所描述的这种情形只是对未来的一个预言，但是，目前已经有了大部分必要的基础设施。网络——或者说因特网、比特网、惠多、各种物理网络，用户网、VMS网以及各种逻辑网络等等——已经迅速发展起来，将覆盖世界上所有发达国家。（1）每天都有更多的计算机加入现有的网络，每台新计算机都增加了用户基数——如今，网络至少连接了两千七百万人。

We are seeing a revitalization of society. The frameworks are being redesigned from the bottom up. A new more democratic world is becoming possible. As one user observed, the Net has "immeasurably increased the quality of ... life." The Net seems to open a new lease on life for people. Social connections which never before were possible, or relatively hard to achieve, are now facilitated by the Net. Geography and time are no longer boundaries. Social limitations and conventions no longer prevent potential friendships or partnerships. In this manner Netizens are meeting other Netizens from far-away and close by that they might never have met without the Net.

我们正在目睹一场社会的新生。社会的架构正在发生彻底的改变。我们将有可能迎来一个更加民主的新世界。正如一位用户所言，网络“已经无限地提高了各方面的质量，这当然包括生活品质。”网络似乎为人们打开了一扇生活的新窗。以前不可能或相对难以实现的社会关系，通过网络得到了促进。时间和空间不再有界限，各种社会限制和社会惯例不再妨碍结成友谊或伙伴关系。网民可以以这种方式结识远在天涯或近在咫尺的其他网民。如果没有网络，他们也许永远也不可能相遇。

A new world of connections between people - either privately from individual to individual or publicly from individuals to the collective mass of many on the Net is possible. The old model of distribution of information from the central Network Broadcasting Company is being questioned and challenged. The top-down model of information being distributed by a few for mass-consumption is no longer the only news. Netnews brings the power of the reporter to the Netizen. People now have the ability to broadcast their observations or questions around the world and have other people respond. The computer networks form a new grassroots connection that allows the excluded sections of society to have a voice. This new medium is unprecedented. Previous grassroots media have existed for much smaller-sized selections of people. The model of the Net proves the old way does not have to be the only way of networking. The Net extends the idea of networking - of making connections with strangers that prove to be advantageous to one or both parties.

我们将有可能迎来一个崭新的世界，一个人人紧密相连的世界，这种联系既可以是私人之间的联系，也可以是群体之间的联系。以网络广播公司为中心传播信息的旧模式正在受到质疑和挑战。以少数途径自上而下向大众传播信息的模式不再是唯一的新闻形式。网络新闻赋予网民记者的权力。如今，人民也能够向世界各地发表自己的意见或疑问，并得到其他人的回应。计算机网络形成了一种新的草根连接模式，使那些非主流的社会阶层也有了发言权。这种新媒体是前所未有的。以前的草根媒体只能为很少的一部分人服务。这种网络模式证明，过去的信息传播方式不一定是唯一的传播方式。网络拓展了人际交往的理念，即结交陌生人对一方或双方都有好处。

[编辑] Section 2
The complete connection of the body of citizens of the world that the Net makes possible does not yet exist, and it will be a struggle to make access to the Net open and available to all. However, in the future we might be seeing the possible expansion of what it means to be a social animal. Practically every single individual on the Net today is available to every other person on the Net. International connection coexists on the same level with local connection. Also the computer networks allow a more advanced connection between the people who are communicating. With computer-communication systems, information or thoughts are connected to people\'s names and electronic-mail addresses. On the Net, one can connect to others who have similar interests or whose thought processes they enjoy.

网络可能促成的世界公民完整联合体还不存在，要想使网络向所有人公开，让所有人都能够使用，还需要继续努力。尽管如此，将来，我们也许会看到社会动物的含义扩展的可能性。实际上，今天网络上每一个独立的个人都可以与网络上其他每个人交谈。国际连线与本地连线在同一层面上共存。计算机网络还允许正在交流的人们之间有更进一步的联系。通过计算机通信系统，信息或思想与人们的名字和电子邮件地址联系起来。网络使任何人与其他志趣相投，思想一致的人联系成为可能。

Netizens make it a point to be helpful and friendly - if they feel it to be worthwhile. Many Netizens feel they have an obligation to be helpful and answer queries and followup on discussions to put their opinion into the pot of opinions. Over a period of time the voluntary contributions to the Net have built it into a useful connection to other people around the world. When I posted the question, "Is the Net a Source of Social/Economic Wealth?" many people responded. Several corrected my calling the net a source of accurate information. They pointed out that it was also a source of opinions. However, the reader can train himself to figure out the accurate information from the breadth of opinions. Presented here is an example of the broadness of views and opinion which I was able to gather from my research on the Net. The Net can be a helpful medium to understand the world. Only by seeing all points of view can anyone attempt to figure out his or her position on a topic.

如果认为值得，网民就会把这种联系变得互助而友好。许多网民认为他们有助人的义务，有回答疑问的义务，也有跟进讨论、加入自己的观点的义务。在过去的一段时间里，向网络提供的自愿捐款已经将它建造为有益于世界各地人民相互联系的场所。当我发出“网络是社会和经济财富的源泉吗？”这个问题，得到了许多人的回应。有些人更正了我称网络为精确信息源泉的说法。他们指出，网络还是观点的源泉。不管怎样说，读者能够训练自己从广泛的意见中辨别出精确的信息。我能够通过网络为我的研究广泛收集意见和观点，这就是一个摆在我们面前的例子。网络能够成为了解世界的有益媒介，因为就算只是看到了所有观点，任何人都对能尝试弄清他或她在一个议题上的立场。

Net society differs from off-line society by welcoming intellectual activity. People are encouraged to have things on their mind and to present those ideas to the Net. People are allowed to be intellectually interesting and interested. This intellectual activity forms a major part of the on-line information that is carried by the various computer networks. Netizens can interact with other people to help add to or alter that information. Brainstorming between varieties of people produces robust thinking. Information is no longer a fixed commodity or resource on the Nets. It is constantly being added to and improved collectively. The Net is a grand intellectual and social commune in the spirit of the collective nature present at the origins of human society. Netizens working together continually expand the store of information worldwide. One person called the Net an untapped resource because it provides an alternative to the normal channels and ways of doing things. The Net allows for the meeting of minds to form and develop ideas. It brings people\'s thinking processes out of isolation and into the open. Every user of the Net gains the role of being special and useful. The fact that every user has his or her own opinions and interests adds to the general body of specialized knowledge on the Net. Each Netizen thus becomes a special resource valuable to the Net. Each user contributes to the whole intellectual and social value and possibilities of the Net.

网络社会不同于离线社会，它乐于接受智力活动。网络鼓励人们有自己的思想，并在网络中展示那些思想。网络使人们能够关注智力活动，也能够使自己的智力活动得到关注。这种智力活动形成了由各种计算机网络承载的在线信息的重要部分。网络公民能够与其他人相互配合共同增加或修改信息。在形形色色的人们之间展开的自由讨论能够产生出强大的思想。在互联网上，信息不再是固定的商品或资源。它在不断地得到集体的补充和改善。网络是一个宏伟的智力和交际社区，具有人类社会原有的集体性的精神。网民们在共同努力，不断地扩大世界范围内信息的存储量。有人称网络是未开发的资源，因为它为做事的正常渠道和方式提供了替代物。网络允许思想的碰撞形成观念并发展观念。它使人们的思维过程走出隔离，步入开放。网络的每个用户都能扮演与众不同的并且有所裨益的角色。每个用户都拥有他或她自己的意见和兴趣，这加强了网络上专门知识的一般部分。这样一来，每个网民都成为对网络来说很重要的特殊资源。每个用户都能为网络的整体智力、社会价值和可能性做出贡献。

[编辑] Section 3
INTRODUCTION
简介

The world of the Netizen was envisioned more than twenty five years ago by J.C.R. Licklider. Licklider brought to his leadership of the Department of Defense\'s ARPA Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) a vision of "the intergalactic computer network." Whenever he would speak from ARPA, he would mention this vision. J.C.R. Licklider was a prophet of the Net. In the paper, "The Computer as a Communication Device", which Licklider wrote with Robert Taylor, they established several principles from their observations of how the computer would play a helpful role in human communication.(2) They clarified their definition of communication as a creative process differentiating between communication and the sending and receiving of information. When two tape recorders send or receive information to each other that is not communication. They wrote:

早在二十五年前，J.C.R·利克莱德就曾对网络公民世界做出过展望。利克莱德为美国国防部高级研究计划署信息处理技术办公室（IPTO）领导层带来“星际间计算机网络”的愿景。只要说起高级研究计划署，他都会提到这个愿景。利克莱德是网络的预言家。利克莱德和罗伯特·泰勒合写了论文“作为通信设备的计算机”。文中叙述了他们通过计算机如何在人际交往中发挥重要作用的观察制订的几项原则。（2）他们阐明了富有创造性过程的沟通定义，以及沟通与信息收发之间的区别。两台录音机之间互相收发信息的时候并不是沟通。他们写道：

"We believe that communicators have to do something non-trivial with the information they send and receive. And to interact with the richness of living information -- not merely in the passive way that we have become accustomed to using books and libraries, but as active participants in an ongoing process, bringing something to it through our interaction with it, and not simply receiving from it by our connection to it. We want to emphasize something beyond its one-way transfer: the increasing significance of the jointly constructive, the mutually reinforcing aspect of communication -- the part that transcends `now we both know a fact that only one of us knew before.\' When minds interact, new ideas emerge. We want to talk about the creative aspect of communication."(3)

“我们认为信息传播者不能简单地收发信息，还应做点不一般的事情。我们不能仅以习惯了的使用书籍和图书馆的消极方式与丰富的生活信息互动，而应该积极地参与到信息传播的持续过程中，通过互动为其增加内容，而不能只是通过接触从中接收信息。我们要突出超出其单向传递的东西：沟通相辅相成共同构建的部分越来越重要——要超越“以前我们只有一个人知道这个事实，现在我们两人都知道了”。当思维相互影响的时候，就会产生新思想。我们想谈论的是沟通富有创造性的方面。

Licklider and Taylor defined four principles for computers to make a contribution towards human communication. They are:

1) Communication is defined as an interactive creative process. 2) Response times need to be short to make the "conversation" free and easy. 3) Larger networks would form out of smaller regional networks. 4) Communities would form out of affinity and common interests.

利克莱德和泰勒就电脑与人类沟通定义了四项原则。它们是： 1）沟通是互动创意进程 2）响应时间要短，使“对话”自由而轻松。 3）大型网络应该由更小的地区性网络组成。 4）社区将由吸引力和共同兴趣组成。

[编辑] Section 4
Licklider and Taylor\'s understandings from their 1968 paper have stood the test of time, and do represent the Net today. In a later paper Licklider co-wrote with Albert Vezza, "Applications of Information Networks"(4), they explore the possible business applications of information networks. Licklider and Vezza\'s survey of business applications in 1978 come short of the possibilities Licklider and Taylor outlined in their 1968 paper, and represent but a tiny fraction of the resources the Net currently embodies.

利克莱德和泰勒1968年在论文中提出的想法经受了时间的考验，确实表现了今天的网络状况。后来利克莱德和阿尔伯特·维扎合写了论文《信息网络的应用》，利克莱德和维扎在1978年对商业应用的考察未能达到1968年利克莱德和泰勒预计描述，只表现了网络当前所包含资源的一小部分。

In the 1968 paper, Licklider and Taylor focused on the Net being comprised of a network of networks. While other researchers of the time focused on the sharing of computing resources, Licklider and Taylor kept an open mind and wrote:

1968年，莱克利德和泰勒主要关注的是由各种网络形成网络系统的网络问题。而当时其他研究人员关注的是分享计算机资源，利克莱德和泰勒持开放的态度写道：

"The collection of people, hardware, and software -- the multi-access computer together with its local community of users -- will become a node in a geographically distributed computer network. Let us assume for a moment that such a network has been formed. Through the network of message processors, therefore, all the large computers can communicate with one another. And through them, all the members of the super community can communicate -- with other people, with programs, with data, or with a selected combinations of those resources."(5)

“人、硬件和软件作为多用户计算机连同其用户的区域群落，它们聚合起来将成为地域性分布式计算机网络的节点。让我们暂且假设这样的网络已经形成。因此，通过信息处理器网络，所有大型计算机都能相互交流。通过它们，所有超社会成员都能组合沟通——与其他人、程序、数据或者和选定的那些资源组合沟通。”（5）

[编辑] Section 5
Their concept of the sharing of both computing and human resources together matches the modern Net. The networking of various human connections quickly forms, changes its goals, disbands and reforms into new collaborations. The fluidity of such group dynamics leads to a quickening of the creation of new ideas. Groups can form to discuss an idea, focus in or broaden out and reform to fit the new ideas that have been worked out.

他们关于同时共享人力资源和计算机资源的概念与现代网络相吻合。各种人力关系网迅速形成，改变其目标，分散后重新组合成新的合作关系。这种集团的流动性导致创新思想萌生。这样就能形成各种团体，共同讨论某个想法，重点关注、扩展并修改这个想法使它能够符合已经确定的新思想。

Netnews, IRC, mailing lists and mud/mush/moo/m** (various of the available discussion tools on the Net) are extremely dynamic. Most can be formed immediately for either short or long term use. As interests or events form, discussion groups can be created. (e.g., The mailing list 9NOV89-L about Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall in November, 1989, and about German unification.)

网络新闻、网聊、邮件列表以及mud/mush/moo/m**等各种各样实用的在线讨论工具极其活跃。它们大都可能让人迅速上手，形成或短期或长期的使用习惯。由于形成了兴趣或活动，讨论小组就能成立了。（例如1989年11月柏林墙倒、德国统一之后的邮件发送清单9NOV89—L。）

The virtual space created on noncommercial computer networks is accessible universally. The content on commercial networks, like Compuserve or America On-Line, is only accessible by those who pay to belong to that particular network. The space on noncommercial networks is accessible from the connections that exist, whereas social networks in the physical world generally are connected by limited gateways. So the capability of networking on computer nets overcomes limitations inherent in noncomputer social networks. This is important because it reduces the problems of population growth. Population growth need not mean limited resources any more -- rather that very growth of population now means an improvement of resources. Thus growth of population can be seen as a positive asset. This is a new way of looking at people in our society. Every new person can mean a new set of perspectives and specialties to add to the wealth of knowledge of the world. This new view of people could help improve the view of the future. The old model looks down on population growth and people as a strain on the environment rather than the increase of intellectual contribution these individuals can make. However, access to the Net needs to be universal for the Net to fully utilize the contribution each person can represent. As long as access is limited -- the Net and those on the Net, lose the full advantages the Net can offer. Lastly the people on the Net need to be active in order to bring about the best possible use of the Net.

在非经营性计算机网络上建立起来的虚拟空间可以随意进入。而经营性网络的内容，比如美国信息服务机构（Compuserve）或美国在线，只有那些属于该网的特殊付费用户才可以进入。从现有的连接就可以进入非营利性网络空间，而物质世界的社会网络一般是由有限的通道连接起来的。因此，在计算机网络上联网的能力克服了非计算机社会网络的固有限制。这很重要，因为它分解了人口增长的问题。人口增长不必再意味着资源的限制——相反，如今人口的增长意味着资源的增值。因此，人口增长可以被视为一笔积极的资产。这是看待我们社会人口的新方式。每位新人都意味着一组新观念和新专业，增加世界知识的财富。对人的这种新视点有助于改进未来的视点。旧模式轻视人口增长和对环境造成压力的人，而没看到这些个体日益增加的知识贡献。然而，进入网络需要网络具有通用能力，能够充分利用每个人所能做出的贡献。只要进入网络受到限制——网络以及那些网络上的内容，就不能充分利用网络所能提供的一切。其次，网络上的人们要采取主动，以便实现最大限度地利用网络的目标。

[编辑] Section 6
Licklider foresaw that the Net allows for people of common interests, who are otherwise strangers, to communicate. Much of the magic of the Net is the ability to make a contribution of your ideas, and then be connected to utter strangers. He saw that people would connect to others via this Net in ways that had been much harder in the past. Licklider observed as the ARPAnet spanned two continents. This physical connection allowed for wider social collaborations to form. This was the beginning of computer data networks facilitating connections of people around the world.

利克莱德预见了网络能使具有共同利益的人们进行交流，如果没有网络他们就是陌生人。网络神奇的主要方面就是能够提出自己的观点，然后和完全陌生的人交流。他发现，人们可以通过网络与他人联系，那是过去很难做到的。利克莱德注意到跨越两个大陆的阿帕网。这种物理连接促成了广泛的社会合作。这是计算机数据网络促进世界各地人民的联系的开始。

My research on and about the Net was very exciting for me. When posting inquiries, I usually received the first reply within a couple of hours. The feeling of receiving that very first reply from a total stranger is always exhilerating! That set of first replies from people reminds me of the magic of e-Mail. It is nice that there can be reminders of how exciting this new form of communication really is -- so that the value of this new use of computers is never forgotten.

我对网络以及有关网络的研究令自己非常兴奋。每当我发出调查信息，总能在几个小时内收到第一个答复。从完全陌生的人那里收到第一个答复的那种感觉总是令人兴奋！人们首次提供的答复让我想到了神奇的电子邮件。能够有提醒我们这种新的交流形式确实令人兴奋的东西很不错——因此，计算机的这种新的应用价值永远也不会被遗忘。 ___________________________________________

CRITICAL MASS

决定性数量

The Net has grown so much in the since its birth in the 1960\'s that a critical mass of people and interests has been reached. This collection of individuals adds to the interests and specialties of the whole community. Most people can now gain something from the Net, while at the same time helping it out. There are enough people on-line now, that anyone coming on-line will find something of interest. People are meshing intellects and knowledge to form new ideas. Larry Press made this clear by writing,

自1960年诞生以来，网络已经有了如此的发展，以致于达到了决定性的人数和兴趣。个体的如此聚集使整个团体收益和并为其加入了特质。大多数人现在能从网络上获得某些东西，同时也能帮助网络解决问题。现在线上有足够多人，上线的每个人都能找到感兴趣的东西。人们融合智力和知识使之形成新的观点。拉里·普莱斯就这一点写得很清楚：

[编辑] Section 7
"I now work on the Net at least 2 hours per day. I\'ve had an account since around 1975 but it has only become super important in the last couple of years because a critical mass of membership was reached. I no longer work in LA, but in cyberspace."

“现在，我每天至少在网上工作两小时。1975年前后我就有了帐号，不过在这几年帐号才变得极其重要，因为接触到了大量的会员。我不再在洛杉矶工作而是在网络空间工作。

While the original users of the Net were from exclusively technical and scientific communities, many of them found it a valuable experience to explore the Net for more than just technical reasons. Today, many different kinds of people are connected to the Net. The original users of the Net (then several test-beds of network research) were from only a few parts of the world. Now people of all ages, from most parts of the globe, and of many professions, make up the Net. The original prototype networks (e.g., ARPAnet in the USA, the network of the National Physical Laboratory in the United Kingdom, CYCLADES in France and other networks around the world) developed the necessary physical infrastructure for a fertile social network to develop. Einar Stefferud wrote of this social connection in an article,

虽然网络原来的用户都来自专业科技和科学团体，他们中很多人却发现不仅仅从技术原因上探索网络是很有价值的。今天，许多不同类型的人被网络连接起来。网络（当时只有几个网络研究试验台）的原始用户只来自世界上少数几个部分。如今，各个年龄层的人们、来自世界各地大部分地区的人们、各行各业的人们共同形成了这个网络。最初的原型网络（如：美国的阿帕网、英国国家物理实验网、法国的CYCLADES以及世界各地其他这类网络）为发展富于创造力的社会网络而开发了必需的物理基础设施。埃纳尔在一篇文章中写到这种社会联系。

"The ARPAnet has produced several monumental results. First, it provided the physical and electrical communications backbone for development of the latent social infrastructure we now call `THE INTERNET COMMUNITY.\'"(6)

”阿帕网创造了几个重大的成绩。首先，它为我们现在称为“网络社区”（6）的潜在社会的基础设施发展提供了物理和电气通信方面的主干。

[编辑] Section 8
Many different kinds of people comprise the Net. The university community sponsors access for a broad range of people (i.e., students, professors, staff, professor emeritus, etc.). Many businesses are also connected. A `K-12 Net\' exists which invites younger people to be a part of the online community. Special bulletin board software exists to connect personal computer users to the Net. Various Unix bulletin board systems exist to connect other users. It is virtually impossible to tell what kinds of people connect to public bulletin board systems, as only a computer (or terminal) and modem are the prerequisites to connect. Many if not all Fidonet BBS\'s (a very common BBS type) have at least e-mail and many also participate through a gateway to Netnews. Prototype community network systems are forming around the world (e.g., Cleveland Free-Net, Wellington Citynet, Santa Monica Public Electronic Network (PEN), Berkeley Community Memory Project, Hawaii FYI, National Capitol Free-Net and others in Canada, etc.). Access via these community systems can be as easy as visiting the community library and membership is open to all who live in the community.

许多不同类型的人们组成了网络。大学社区为一大批人（也就是学生、教授、职工、名誉教授等）提供了使用权。许多企业也被连接起来。“K-12（从幼儿园到十二岁的儿童教育网）”的存在邀请力更年轻的人群成为在线社区的一部分。专用告示牌软件的存在将个人电脑用户与网络连接起来。各种多用户操作告示牌系统的存在连接了其他用户。要想分清是哪种人与公众告示牌系统连接起来根本不可能，因为必须预先连接起来只有电脑（或终端）和调制解调器。即使不是全部也有很多惠多网BBS(很常见的一种BBS)用户至少有e-mail，还有很多用户通过网关分享网络新闻。社区网络系统原型正在世界各地形成。（比如：克利夫兰的免费网（Free-Net)、惠灵顿的城市网（Citynet)、圣塔莫尼卡公共电子网（Pen)、伯克利社会记忆工程（Community Memory Profect)、夏威夷参考资讯（FYI）、国会大厦免费网（Free-Net)、以及在加拿大的其它网络，等）通过这些社区系统进入网络能够很容易地访问社区图书馆，其会员资格向所有生活在社区内的用户开放。

In addition to the living body of resources this diversity of Netizens represents, there is also a continual growing body of digitized data that forms another body of resources. Whether it is Netizens digitizing great literature of the past (e.g., the Gutenberg Project, Project Bartleby), or it is people gathering otherwise obscure or non-mainstream material (e.g., various religions, unusual hobbies, gay lifestyle, fringe.), or if it is Netizens contributing new and original material, the Net follows in the great tradition of other public institutions, such as the public library or the principle behind public education. The Net shares with these institutions that they serve the general populace. This data is just part of the treasure. Often living Netizens provide pointers to this digitized store of publicly available information. Many of the network access tools have been created with the principle of being available to everyone. The best example is the method of connecting to file repositories via FTP (file transfer protocol) by logging in as an "anonymous" user. Most, if not all, World Wide Web Sites, Wide Area Information Systems (WAIS), and gopher sites are open for all users of the Net. It is true that the Net Community is smaller than it will be, but the Net has reached a point of general usefulness no matter who you are.

除了网民多样性所代表的活体资源以外，还有形成另一种资源机构的持续发展着的数字化数据机构。无论网民是否数字化了过去的伟大文学（比如：古腾堡项目、巴特尔比项目），抑或收集了原本不出名或为非主流的题材（比如：各种各样的宗教、不寻常的爱好、同性恋的生活方式、极端分子），还是贡献出了新的一手材料，网络依旧遵循着与公共图书馆或者公共教育所遵原则类似的伟大传统。网络分享了这些体系，为普通百姓服务。这个数据只是这笔财富的一部分。活跃的网民通常为此公开的可利用信息数字化存储提供线索。在能为所有人利用的原则上，已经发明出了许多网络存取工具。最好的例子是通过注册为“匿名”用户，经由FTP(文件传输协议)连接到档案库的方法。大多数网站（几乎是全部）的万维网网站、广域信息系统（WAIS）以及小田鼠网站（gopher sites ）都对网络的所有用户开放。网络社区还不够大，这是事实，不过，不论你是谁，网络毫无疑问普遍已经很有用处了。

[编辑] Section 9
All of this evidence is exactly why it is a problem for the Net to come under the control of commercial entities. Once commercial interests gain control, the Net will be much less powerful for the ordinary person than it is currently. Commercial interests vary from those of the common person. They attempt to make profit from any available means. Compuserve is an example of one current commercial network. A user of Compuserve pays for access by the hour. If this scenario would be extended to the Net of which I speak, the Netiquette of being helpful would have a price tag attached to it. If people had had to pay by the minute during the Net\'s development, very few would have been able to afford the network time needed to be helpful to others.

这一切都确切地证明，对网络来说，为什么受到商业实体的控制是个难题。一旦受到商业利益的控制，对普通人来说，网络的力量会大大地低于其现在应有的水平。商业利益因那些普通人而不同。他们努力通过各种手段获得利润。美联网（Compuserve)是当前商业网络的一个范例。美联网的用户按小时付使用费。如果这种情况扩大到我提到的网络中，有益的网络规范就会贴上一个价格标签。如果在网络发展过程中，人们不得不按分钟付费，能支付得起对其他人有帮助所需要的网络时间的人就寥寥无几了。

The Net has only developed because of the hard work and voluntary dedication of many people. It has grown because the Net is in the control and power of the people at the grassroots level, and because these people developed it. People\'s posts and contributions to the Net have been the developing forces.

由于许多人的努力工作、自愿奉献，网络才得以及发展。网络之所以能够成长的动因是草根人群的力量和网络的自律精神，也因为这些人们才继续发展它。人们在网络上发表的内容以及贡献已经成为网络发展的动力。

[编辑] Section 10
____________________________________________

GRASSROOTS

草根

The Net brings people together. People put into connection with other people can be powerful. There is power in numbers. The Net allows an individual to realize his power. The Net, uncontrolled by commercial entities, becomes the gathering, discussion and planning center for many people.

网络把人们聚集到一起。人与人联系起来会有强大的力量。数量中蕴含着力量。网络也使得个体意识到自己的力量。没有受到商业实体控制的网络成为许多人聚集、讨论及规划的中心。

The combined efforts of people interested in communication has led to the development and expansion of the global communications system. What\'s on the Net? Well -- Usenet, Free-Net, e-mail, library catalogs, ftp sites, free software, electronic newsletters and journals, Multi-User Domain/Dungeon (mud)/mush/moo, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), the multimedia world wide web (WWW) and many kinds of data banks. Different servers, like WWW, WAIS, and gophers attempt to order and make utilizing the vast varieties and widespread information easier. There exist both public and private services and sources of information. The public and free services often come about through the voluntary efforts of one or a few people. These technologies allow a person to help make the world a better place by making his or her unique contribution available to the rest of the world. People who have been overlooked or have felt unable to contribute to the world, now can. Also, these networks allow much more open and public interaction over a much larger body of people than available before. The common people have a unique voice -- which is now being aired in a new way.

喜欢交流的人们共同努力发展并扩大了全球的通讯系统。网络上有什么？嗯——网络新闻、免费网络、电子邮件、图书馆目录、ftp站点、免费软件、电子通讯和期刊、 Multi-User Domain/Dungeon (mud)/mush/moo, 互联网中继聊天系统（IRC）、多媒体全球信息网（WWW）以及各种数据库。不同的服务器，比如WWW、WAIS及挖地鼠努力规范并更容易地利用名目繁多分布广阔的信息。网络即有公众服务及信息资源，也有私密的服务及信息资源。公开而免费的服务往往来自一个或几个人的自愿付出。这些技术使某个人能够向世界上其他人提供他或她的独特贡献，从而帮助世界变得更美好。那些一直被忽视或感到不能为世界做出贡献的人们现在有了用武之地。此外，这些网络使人们能够在比以往更大的人群中实现更公开的公民互动。普通人有独特的声音——如今以一种新的方式表达出来。

The emphasis is that this new machine introduces every single person as someone special and in possession of a useful resource.

重点在于，这种新的机制把每个个人都当某个特别的人物来介绍，而且每个人都拥有有用的资源。

[编辑] Section 11
NETIZEN COMMENTS ON GRASSROOTS:

网民对草根性的评价：

"Simple -- by access to a vast amount of information and an enormous number of brains!" Brian May

布莱恩·梅（ Brian May）：“很简单就能够接入大量的信息和数不胜数的思想！”

"For a geographically sparse group as it is, MU* allows people to get to know one another, the relevant newsgroup gives a sense that there\'s a community out there and things are happening, and an associated ftp site allows art and writing to be distributed." Simon Raboczi

西蒙（Simon Raboczi）：“从地理意义上说人数稀少的团体，MU*使得人们相互结识，相关的新闻组给人一种不断变化的共同体的感觉，而联合起来的的ftp网点则使美术或文学作品广泛传播成为可能。“

"In summary, nets have helped enormously in the dissemination of information from people knowledgeable in certain areas which would be difficult to obtain otherwise." Brent Edwards

布伦特·爱德华兹（Brent Edwards）：”总的来说，网络极大地有助于来自特定领域人们的信息传播，没有网络的话，我们很难获得这些信息。“

"I get to communicate rapidly and cheaply with zillions of people around the world." Rosemary Warren

罗斯玛丽·华伦（Rosemary Warren）：”我能够迅速而廉价地与世界各地的无数人进行交流。“

[编辑] Section 12
The following examples help to show how this is possible.

以下例子有助于说明这一切是可能的。

People are normally unprotected from the profit desires of large companies. Steven Alexander from California was using the Net to try to prevent over charging at gas stations. This is an example of the power of connecting people to uphold what is fair and in the best interest of the common person in this society.

普通人们的利益在大公司的盈利考虑之下一般不会受到保护。加利福尼亚人史蒂文·亚历山大（Steven Alexander）正在利用网络争取避免加油站过度收费。这是联络平民支持这个社会中为普通人争取公平待遇和最佳利益的例子。

From: Steven Alexander "I have started compiling and distributing (on the newsgroup ca.driving) a list of gas prices at particular stations in California to which many people will contribute and keep up to date, and which, I hope, will allow consumers to counteract what many of us suspect is the collusive (or in any case, price-gouging) behavior of the oil companies."

自：史蒂文·亚力山大： ”我已经开始收集并发布（在 newsgroupca.driving上）加利福尼亚个别加油站的汽油价格表，会有很多人发布并不断更新这些数据，我希望，这样做能打消很多消费者对石油公司合谋（或无论何种情况下的价格欺诈）行为的质疑。

A user from Germany also reported using the Net to muckrake. He writes:

德国一位用户也报告了利用网络揭露丑闻的事情。他写道：

[编辑] Section 13
"A company said they were a [nonprofit organization]. Someone looked them up in the [nonprofit] Register, and they did not exist there. Someone else said that he had contact with the person who sent the letter, only under another company-name, and that he simply ignored this person since he looked like a swindler. So they are swindlers, and people from the Net proved it to us, we then of course did not engage with them at all."

有家公司称他们是[非营利组织]。有人在[非营利组织]注册机构查询他们的信息，而并没有发现他们的名字。另一个人说他和发信人联系过了，只不过发信人是以另一家公司的名义同他联系的，他根本没有理睬这个人，因为他看上去像个骗子。这样一来，他们的确是骗子，来自网络的人们向我们证明了这一点，于是，我们当然根本不会跟他们接触了。
The Net has proven its importance in other contemporary critical situations. As the only available line of communications with the rest of the world, the Net helped defeat the attempted coup in the ex-Soviet Union in 1990. The members of the coup either did not know about or understand the role the Russian RELCOM network could play or the connections proved resilient enough for information about the coup to be communicated inside and out of the country in time to inform the world and encourage resistance to the coup.(7)

网络已经证明了自己在当代其它危机状况下的重要性。1990年，作为可用来与世界其它地方通信的唯一线路，网络击败了前苏联的未遂政变。政变成员要么不知道，要么不了解俄罗斯RELCOM网所能起的作用，也不了解这些连接被证实足以沟通国内外，能及时把政变的消息告知世界，并鼓励人们抗击政变。（7）

The Net has also proven its value by providing an important medium for students. Students participating in the Chinese Pro-Democracy movement have kept in touch with others around the world via their fragile connection to the Net. The Net provided an easy way of evading government censors to get news around the world about events in China and to receive back encouraging feedback. Such feedback is vital support to keep the fight on when it seems impossible or wrong to do so. In a similar way, students in France used the French Minitel system to organize a successful fight against plans by the French government to restrict admission to government subsidized universities.

网络还通过为学生提供重要的媒介而证明其自身价值。参加中国民运的学生一直通过网络与世界各地保持脆弱联系。网络提供了一条简易的方式，避免政府检查员获得来自世界各地的有关中国发生事件的消息，并收到令人鼓舞的反馈。这些反馈至关重要，在斗争似乎不可能或做错了的时候能促使斗争进行下去。法国学生以同样的方式利用法国公共信息网终端系统成功地组织了反对法国政府限制申请政府资助大学的计划。

[编辑] Section 14
The information flow on the Net is controlled by those who use the Net. People actively provide the information that they personally and other people want. There is a much more active form of participation than what is provided for by other forms of mass media. Television, radio, magazines are all driven by those who own and determine who will write for them. The Net gives people a media they can control. This control of information is a great power that has not been available before to the common everyday person. For example, Declan McCreesh describes how this makes possible access to the most up to date information.

网络上流通的信息由那些使用网络的人控制。网民积极地提供他们自己和其他人需要的信息。与其它大众媒体提供信息的形式相比，网络的参与形式更积极。电视、广播、杂志都由拥有者驱动，并由他们决定由谁来为其写信息。网络给了人们一个自己能控制的媒体。这种信息的控制具有的力量，是以往普通人不可能获得的力量。举例来说，德克兰·麦克里什描述了这如何使接近最新信息成为可能。

From: Declan McCreesh "You get the most up to date info. that people around the world can get their hands on, which is great. For instance, the media report who wins a Grand Prix, what happened and not a great deal more. On the net, however, you can get top speeds, latest car and technology developments, latest rumors, major debates as to whether Formula 1 or Indy cars are better etc."

自：德克兰·麦克里什：

“你获得世界各地的人们能够依次传递下去的最新信息，这很伟大。比如说，媒体报道，谁赢了国际汽车大奖赛，发生了什么事情，不会有更多的细节。而在网络上，你能知道最快速度、最新车型和技术发展状况、最新传言，以及有关F1或印地（Indy）赛车哪个更好的大辨论等。”

[编辑] Section 15
The Net helps to make the information available more accurate because of the many-to-many or broadcast and read and write capability. That new capability, which is not normally very prevalent in our society, allows an actual participant or observer to report something. This capability gives the power of journalism or the reporter to the individual. This new medium allows the source to report. This is true because the medium allows everyone on-line to make a contribution. The old media instead controls who reports and what they say. The possibility of eyewitness accounts via the net can make the information more accurate. Also this opens up the possibility for a grassroots network. Information is passed from person to person around the world. Thus German citizens could learn about the Chernobyl explosion from the Net before the government decided to release the information to the public via the media. The connection is people to people rather than governments to governments. Citizen Journalists can now distribute to more than those they know personally. The distribution of the writings of ordinary people is the second step after the advent of the inexpensive personal computer in the early 1980s. The personal computer and printer allowed anyone to produce mass quantities of documents. Personal publishing is now joined by wide personal distribution.

因为网络多对多传播，或者说是广播及可读写的能力，使其有助于信息传播更准确。这是种在我们的社会中不常见的新能力，允许实际参与者或观察者报告某些东西。这种能力赋予个人新闻报道或记者的能力。这种新媒介使得消息源可以参与报道。这千真万确，因为这种媒介允许在线的任何人提供消息。而老媒体控制着报告者以及他们所说的内容。通过网络发布目击实录的可能性能使信息更准确。这也为基层网络开发了可能性。信息在世界各地人们中一一传递下去。这样一来，在政府决定通过媒体发布消息之前，德国公民就能够了解到切尔诺贝利爆炸事件。这种连接是人与人之间的连接不是政府与政府之间的连接。现在，公民记者能够传播比他们自己知道的更多的消息。在二十世纪八十年代初便宜的个人电脑出现之后，来自普通人的作品传播随之而来。个人电脑和打印机使得任何人都能印制大量的文件。个人出版现在加入了广泛的个人传播。

Not only is there grassroots reporting, but the assumption that filtering is necessary has been challenged. People can learn to sort through the various opinions themselves. Steve Welch disagreed that the Net is a source of more accurate information, but agreed that people develop discriminatory reading skills.

网络不仅催生了草根报道这种形式，而且使“信息过滤是必要的”这种假说也受到了挑战。人们能够从各种意见中自己分辨是非。尽管史蒂夫·韦尔奇（Steve Welch）不同意网络是更准确的信息源这种看法，但是，他同意人们的阅读辨别能力的得到了发展这种说法。

[编辑] Section 16
From: Steve Welch: "When you get more information from diverse sources, you don\'t always get more accurate information. However, you do develop skills in discerning accurate information. Or rather, you do if you want to come out of the infoglut jungle alive."

自：史蒂夫·韦尔奇：

“当从不同的来源获得更多信息时，你不会总是能得到更准确的信息。尽管如此，你识别准确信息的能力却实实在在精进了。更准确地说，如果你想在超量资讯（infoglut）的丛林中活着出来，就要发展这种能力。

Governments that rule based on control of information will succumb eventually to the tides of democracy. As Dr. Sun Yat-Sen of the Chinese Democracy Movement once said, "The worldwide democratic trend is mighty. Those who submit to it will prosper and those who resist it will perish." The Net reintroduces the basic idea of democracy as the grassroots people power of Netizens. Governments can no longer easily keep information from their people.

依靠信息控制执政的政府最终将屈从于民主潮流。正如中国民主运动先驱孙中山博士曾说的，“天下大势，浩浩荡荡，顺之者昌，逆之者亡”。网络以网民的草根人权重新引入了民主主义思想。政府再也不能轻易地阻止人民了解信息了。

Many groups which do not have an established form of communications available to them have found the Net to be a powerful tool. For example, for people far away from their homeland, the Net provides a new link.

许多没有确定通讯方式的人群发现网络是一种有力的工具。比如，网络为远离家乡的人们提供了新的联系方式。

[编辑] Section 17
From: Godfrey Nolan "The Net has immeasurably increased the quality of my life. I am Irish, but I have been living in England for the past five years. It is a lot more difficult to get information about Ireland than you would expect. However a man called Liam Ferrie who works in Digital in Galway, compiles a newspaper on the weeks events in Ireland and so I can now easily keep abreast of most developments in Irish current affairs, which helps me feel like I\'m not losing touch when I go home about twice a year. It is also transmitted to about 2000 Irish people all over the first and third worlds."

自：高弗雷·诺兰（ Godfrey Nolan） “网络不可估量地提升了我的生活质量。我是爱尔兰人，但我在英格兰生活了五年。要想获得有关爱尔兰的消息比你想像的要难得多。不过，一个名叫利亚姆·弗瑞（Liam Ferrie）的人在戈尔韦做数码工作，他编辑了爱尔兰一周活动的报纸，因此我能很容易地了解爱尔兰时事的最新进展，这有助于让我在两年一次回家时不会感到失去了与家乡的接触。这份报纸也传递给在遍布第一和第三世界各地约2000名爱尔兰人。”

From: Madhur K. Limdi "I read your above posting and wanted to share my experience with you. I have been a frequent reader of news in Usenet groups, such as soc.culture.indian, misc.news.southasia. Both of these keep me reasonably informed about the happenings in my home country India."

自：Madhur K. Limdi

“我看了你上面的贴子，我想与你分享我的经历。我是网络新闻组的常客，像soc.culture.indian、misc.news.southasia这些组我都经常光顾。这两个网站使我不断地了解到印度家乡发生的事情。”

Also in the United States, the Net has provide stable communications for people of various religious and sexual persuasions. Many other communities have also found the Net to be a excellent medium to help increase communications:

在美国，网络还为各种宗教和性信仰的人们提供了稳定的通信渠道。许多其它社区也发现网络是有助于促进沟通的优秀媒介。

[编辑] Section 18
From: Gregory G. Woodbury "We will be going to a march on Washington and are coordinating our plans and travel with a large number of other folks around the country via e-mail and conversations on Usenet."

自：格雷戈里·G·伍德伯里（Gregory G. Woodbury）

“我们将在华盛顿举行游行，我们正通过电子邮件和在Usenet上的商谈来协调我们的计划，并把计划传递给全国各地大批其他人士。”

From: Jann VanOver "I\'m a member of a Buddhist organization and just found a man in Berkeley who keeps a Mailing List that sends daily guidance and discussions for this group. So I get a little religious boost when I log on each day."

自：詹恩（Jann VanOver）

“我是佛教组织成员，刚刚在伯克利发现一名男子，他保留着一个为这个组织发送日常指导和讨论的邮件列表。因此，每天我登录后，都能加深一点对宗教的认识。”

From: Carole E. Mah "For me and for many of my friends, the Net is our main form of communication. Almost every aspect of interpersonal communication on the network has a gay/lesbian/bi aspect to it that forms a tight and intimate acquaintanceship which sometimes even boils over into arguments and enmities. This network of connections, friends, enemies, lovers, etc. facilitates political goals that would not otherwise be possible (organizing letter-writing campaigns about the Gays in the Military Ban via the ACT-UP list, being able to send e-mail directly to the White House, finding out about activism, bashing, etc. in other states and around the world, etc)."

自：卡萝尔·E·巴（Carole E. Mah）

“对我以及我的许多朋友们来说，网络是我们的主要沟通形式。网络上人际传播的方方面面几乎都有男同性恋/女同性恋/双性恋的方面，它们形成了亲密的熟人关系，这种关系有时甚至爆发出争吵和仇怨。这种由关系、朋友、敌人、爱侣等形成的网络，为本来不可能达到的政治目标提供了机会。（通过行动列表在Military Ban上组织有关同性恋的写信运动，能够直接向白宫发送邮件，找出其它州以及世界各的有关运动、相关批评等等。）”

From: Robert Dean "As a member of the science fiction community, I\'ve met quite a few people on the net, and then in person."

自：罗伯特·迪恩（Robert Dean）

“作为科幻小说社区的成员，我在网上结识了很多人，之后又亲见了本人。”

[编辑] Section 19
____________________________________________

COMMUNICATION WITH NEW PEOPLE

与新人沟通

In many Netizens\' lives the Net has alleviated feelings of loneliness, which seem common in today\'s society. The Net\'s ability to help people network both socially and intellectually makes the Net valuable and irreplaceable in people\'s lives. This is forming a group of people who want to keep the Net accessible and open to all.

在许多网民的生活中，网络已经减轻了当今社会中普遍的孤独感。网络帮助人们从社交及智力两方面联系起来的能力使得网络在人们生活中具有重要价值，而且不可替代。想让网络保持对所有人接入和开放的人们正在形成一个群体。

The Net brings together people from diverse walks of life, and makes it easier for these people to communicate. It brings them all together into the same virtual space and removes the impact or influence of first impressions.

网络将来自社会不同阶层的人们带到一起，使这些人更容易沟通。它将人们全都招集在同一个虚拟空间，消除了第一印象的冲击或影响。

Malcolm Humes writes, "I\'m in awe of the power and energy linking thousands into a virtual intellectual coffee-house, where strangers can connect without the formalities of face to face rituals (hello, how are you today ) to allow a direct-connect style of communication that seems to transcend the `how\'s the weather\' kind of conversation to just let us connect without the bullshit."

马尔科姆·休姆斯（Malcolm Humes）写道，“我敬畏将数千人连接进一个虚拟智能咖啡屋的动力和能量，在那里，陌生人不需要面对面地说客套话（你好，今天好吗）就能进行联系，使得直接联系的沟通风格似乎超越了‘天气怎么样’的谈话类型，让我们能够不用说废话直接交流。”

[编辑] Section 20
Strangers are no longer strange on the Net. People are free to communicate without limits, fears or apprehension. It used to be that there was a rather generous atmosphere that thrived on the Net and that welcomed new users. People were happy to help others, often as a return for the help they had received. Things have changed, and the general welcome to new-comers is not as universally friendly, but there are many on-line who still try and help new people. Others are nasty, but the goodwill still overpowers the unfriendly comments.

在网络中，陌生人不再陌生。人们自由沟通，不受限制，也没有恐惧或忧虑。网络曾经发展出非常宽松的氛围，并由衷欢迎新用户。人们愿意帮助他人，也往往受到他人作为回报的帮助。但后来形势已经发生了变化，对新用户的欢迎不再象以往那么友好，不过，线上依然有很多努力帮助新人的人们。其他一些人挺讨厌，不过善意依然能战胜不友好的评论。

From: Jean-Francois Messier "My use of the Net is to get in touch with more people around the world. I don\'t know for what, when, how, but that\'s important for me. Not that I\'m in a small town, far from everybody, but that I want to be able to establish links with others. In fact, because of those nets I use, I would !NOT! want to go to a small town, just because the phone calls would be too expensive. I\'ve to say that I\'m not an expressive people. I\'m not a great talker, nor somebody who could make shows. I\'m more an `introvert\'."

自：让·弗朗索瓦·梅西耶（Jean-Francois Messier）

“我用网络的目的是接触世界各地更多的人。我不知道何时以何种方式认识何人，但这对我来说很重要。并不是因为我在一个小镇子，远离大家，而是因为我希望能和其他人建立联系。事实上，因为有了我利用的那些网络，我决不会有融入小镇子的想法，而这只是因为电话费太贵。不得不说我是个不善于表达的人。我不是健谈的人，也不是能作秀的人。更大程度上我是一个‘内向的人’”

Yet Jean-Francois wrote me. This is just one example of the social power of the Net. Another Netizen comments on how the Net helped her befriend strangers.

尽管让·弗朗索瓦给我写了这封信，但这只是网络的社会力量的例子之一。另一位网民的评论说的是网络如何帮助她接近陌生人。

From: Laura Goodin "Last summer I was traveling to Denver and I used a listserv mailing list to find out whether a particular running group I run with had a branch there. They did, and I had a wonderful time meeting people with a common interest (and drinking beer with them); I was no longer a stranger."

自：劳拉·古丁（ Laura Goodin）

“去年夏天，我去丹佛旅行，我用一个邮件列表查明我参加的某个小组在那里是否有分支。他们真有一个分支，我在那里见到了志趣相投的人，我们过得很愉快（我还和他们一起喝啤酒）；我在这里不再是个陌生人了。”

[编辑] Section 21
____________________________________________ BROADENED AND WORLDLY PROSPECTIVE:

Easy connection to people and ideas from around the world has a powerful effect. Awareness that we are members of the human species which spans the entire globe changes a person\'s point of view. It is a broadening perspective. It is very easy for people to assume a limited point of view if they are only exposed to certain ideas. The Net brings the isolated individual into contact with other people, experiences, and views from the rest of the world. Exposure to many opinions gives the reader a chance to actually consider multiple views before settling on a specific opinion. Having access to the "Marketplace of Ideas" allows a person to make a reasoned judgment.

易于将人们联系起来并获得来自世界各地的想法这两个特点有着强大的影响。我们意识到了我们是遍及全球的人类的成员，认识的这种翻天覆地般变化改变了了人的观点。这是放大了的视角。如果人们只接受某些特定的观点，那么他们就很容易假设出一种有局限的看法。网络使孤立的个人接触其他人，接触来自世界其它地区的经验和观点。接触多种意见使读者有机会在选定某个具体意见之前切实考虑多种观点。进入“观点的自由市场”使人能够做出理性的判断。

For example, from: Jean-Francois Messier

比如说，自：让·弗朗索瓦·梅西尔

"My attitudes to other peoples, races and religions changed, since I had more chances to talk with other peoples around the world. When first exchanging mail with people from Yellowknife, Yukon, I had a real strange feeling: Getting messages and chatting with people that far from me. I noticed around me that a lot of people have opinions and positions about politics that are for themselves, without knowing others."

自从我有更多的机会与世界各地的其他人谈话以来，我对其他人、其他种族和宗教的看法改变了。第一次与育空、耶洛奈夫的人交换邮件时，我有个真正奇怪的感觉：从离我如此遥远的人那里得到讯息，还和他聊天。我注意到，我周围有许多人有自己的政治观点和立场，但他们不知道别人的观点和立场。“

[编辑] Section 22
He continues:

他继续道：

"Because I have a much broader view of the world now, I changed and am more conciliatory and peaceful with other people. Writing to someone you never saw, changes the way you write, also, the instancy of the transmission makes the conversation much more `live\' than waiting for the damn slow paper mail. Telecommunications opened the world to me and changed my visions of people and countries."

因为现在我对世界有了更宽阔的视野，我变了，和其他人相处得更和谐也更平和。写信给从未见过的人，也改变了写信的方式，传送的迅速使得对话比等待极其缓慢的纸质信件更加“鲜活”。远程通讯为我打开了世界，改变了我对人民和国家的看法。“

From: Anthony Berno "I could not begin to tell you how different my life would be without the Net. My life would be short about a dozen people, some of them central, I would be wallowing in ignorance on several significant subjects, and my mind would be lacking many broadening and enlightening influences."

自：安东尼·伯诺（Anthony Berno）

“我无法说清没有网络我的生活会有多么的不同。我们生活中会少十几个人，他们有些人很重要，我会继续对几个重要课题一无所知，我的思想会缺少许多拓宽思路和有启发性的影响。”

From: Henry Choy "More things to look at. Increased perspective on life. The computer network brings people closer together, and permits them to speak at will to a large audience. I recommend that the telecommunications and computer industry make large scale computer networking accessible to the general public. It\'s like mak- ing places accessible to the handicapped. People brought closer together will release some existing social tensions. People need to be heard, and they need to hear."

自：亨利·乔伊（Henry Choy） “看到更多的东西。增加对生活的看法。计算机网络把人们之间的距离缩短，允许他们自由地向大批观众发表讲话。我建议，远程通讯和计算机业建立公众易于进入的大型计算机网络。这就好比为残疾人建立易于进入的场所。更密切联系的人们能释放现有的社会紧张感。人们有倾听和倾诉的需要。”

[编辑] Section 23
From: Paul Ready "You don\'t have to go to another country to meet people from there. It is not the same as personally knowing them, but I always pay special attention to information from people outside the States. They are likely to have a different perspective on things."

自：保罗·瑞德（Paul Ready）

“要见某个国家的人，你不必去那个国家就能见到。这和通过现实的个人关系认识他们不一样，不过，我总是特别关注来自国外人们的信息。他们很可能对事情有不同的看法。”

From: Leandra Dean "I love to study people, and the Net has been the best possible resource to this end. The Net is truly a window to the world, and without it we could only hope to physically meet virtually thousands of people every day to gain the same insights. I shudder to think about how different and closed in my life would be without the Net."

自：莱昂德拉·迪恩（ Leandra Dean）

“我喜欢研究人，而网络迄今为止是达到此目的的最好资源。网络确实是世界之窗，没有网络的话，我们只得寄希望于每天与几乎数千人在现实中会面以获取同样的观点。想到如果没有网络，我的生活会有多么不同，多么封闭，我就不寒而栗。”

[编辑] Section 24
____________________________________________

MATERIAL CHANGES TO PEOPLE\'S LIVES AND LIFESTYLES.

人们日常生活和生活方式的重大改变

The time spent on-line can affect the rest of a person\'s life. The connections, interfaces or collaborations between times on and off line form an interesting area of study. Netizens attest to the power of the Net by explaining the effect the Net has had on their lives. Because of the information available and the new connections possible, people have changed the way they live their lives. There are examples of both changes in the material possessions and changes in lifestyle. The changes in lifestyle are probably the more profound changes, but the new connections made possible are important. Often the material gains are not financial. Rather worthwhile goods can be redistributed from those to whom the goods might have lost personal value to those who would value the goods.

在网上花费的时间能影响人的余生。每次从上线到离线这段时间内的联系、协调或协作形成了一个有趣的研究领域。网民通过说明网络对他们生活的影响来证明网络的力量。因为能够获取信息并建立新的联系，人们已经改变了他们的生活方式。有许多既改变物质财富又改变生活方式的例子。生活方式的改变也许是更深刻的变化，而随新的联系产生的可能性也很重要。在网络上，通常物质层面的所得不是真金白银。相反，有价值的物品对某些人来说也许会损失其个人价值，因而可能会被重新分给那些看重这些物品的人。

NETIZEN COMMENTS ON MATERIAL CHANGES:

网民评论重大改变：

From: William Carroll "Primarily because of the information and support from rec.bikes, three years ago I gave up driving to work and started riding my bike. It\'s one of the best decisions I\'ve ever made."

自：威廉·卡罗尔（William Carroll）

“首先，由于从rec.bikes（newsgroup中讨论自行车休闲运动的分组）得到了信息和支持，三年前我放弃开车，开始骑自行车去上班，。这是我所做的最好的决定之一。”

[编辑] Section 25
A Response I received via e-Mail: "When I started using ForumNet (a chat program similar to irc, but smaller -- [Now called icb]) back in January 1990, I was fairly shy and insecure. I had a few close friends but was slow at making new ones. Within a few weeks, on ForumNet, I found myself able to be open, articulate, and well-liked in this virtual environment. Soon, this discovery began to affect my behavior in "real" face-to-face interaction. I met some of my computer friends in person and they made me feel so good about myself, like I really could be myself and converse and be liked and wanted."

通过电子邮件我得到回应：

“早在1990年1月我开始使用 ForumNet （与irc类似的聊天程序，不过小一点——现在称为icb）时，我非常腼腆，还有不安全感。我有几个好朋友，不过交新朋友很慢。上ForumNet几个星期后，我就发现自己能够很开放，表达能力也强了，而且在这个虚拟环境中深受喜爱。不久，这一发现开始影响我在“现实”的面对面交流中的行为。我面见了几个网友，他们让我对自己感觉良好，同样，我真的能够做自己，可能交谈，被喜爱、被需要。”

"Of course, computer-mediated social interaction is not properly a crutch to substitute for face-to-face encounters, but the ability to converse via keyboard and modem with real people at the other end of the line has translated into the real-life ability for me to reach out to people without the mediating use of a computer. My life has improved. I wouldn\'t trade my experience with the Net for anything."

“当然，以计算机为媒介的社会交往不应当代替面对面接触，但是，通过键盘和调制解调器与线路另一端的真人交流提高了我不用电脑媒介与现实生活中的人们交流的能力。我的生活已经改善。网络带给我的这种经历是无可替代的。”

[编辑] Section 26
From: Jack Frisch "I must begin my comments on the Internet with one simple yet significant statement: the availability and use of the Internet is changing my life profoundly."

自：杰克·弗里希（Jack Frisch）

我必须以一个简单而重要的声明开始我对互联网的评价：互联网的可用性和效用正在深深地改变我的生活。“

From: Carole E. Mah "I also used to facilitate a vegetarian list, which radically altered many people\'s lives, offering them access to mail-order foods, recipes, and friendship via net-contact with people who live in areas where non-meat alternatives are readily available."

自：卡萝尔·E·巴（Carole E. Mah）

“我也习惯了提供完全改变了许多人生活的素食单，通过网络与生活在没有现成肉食替代品地区的人们联系，为他们提供邮购食品、食谱和友谊。”

From: Jann VanOver "Well, the first thing I thought of is purchases I\'ve made through the Net which have "changed my life" I drove my Subaru Station wagon until last fall when I acquired a VW Camper van that I saw on a local Net ad. I wasn\'t looking for a van, wasn\'t even shopping for another vehicle, but the second time this ad scrolled by me, I looked into it and eventually bought it. I will certainly say that driving a 23 year old VW camper van has changed my life! I thought I would be ridiculed, but have found that people have a lot of respect and admiration for this car!"

自：詹恩（Jann VanOver）

“嗯，我想到的第一件事是通过网络买东西，这‘已经改变了我的生活’。去年秋天，我在当地网络广告中看到并购买了一部大众露营车，此前我开的是斯巴鲁旅行车。我并没有特意向要这样一辆露营车，甚至没有买任何一辆车的打算，但是当我再次点到这个广告时，我认真地看看了，最后买了它。我当然会说，开一辆23年车龄的大众露营车改变了我的生活！我一开始觉得我会遭到嘲笑，但之后我却发现人们对这款车表露出了无比仰慕之情！”

[编辑] Section 27
Jann goes on to write

"Through the Net, I heard that Roger Waters was going to perform "The Wall" again, an event I had promised myself not to miss, so I made a trip to Berlin (East and West) in 1990 to see this concert. This was CERTAINLY a life changing event, seeing Berlin less than one week after the roads were open with no checkpoints required. I don\'t think I would have known about it soon enough if not for the Net."

“通过网络，我听说罗杰·沃特斯将要再次现场演唱《墙》，我不允许自己错过这此演出，所以我专程在1990年去柏林（东西德两部分）旅行观看这次演唱会。这的的确确是一次改变生活的事件，我看到了撤去检查哨开放还不到一周的街道。我不能想象如果没从网络上知道这事自己符合才能这么迅速的知道这一切。”

From: Robert Dean "As for me, my main hobby is and was playing wargames and role-playing games. Net access has allowed me to discuss these games with players across the world, picking up new ideas, and gathering opinions on new games before spending money on them. In addition, I\'ve been able to buy and sell games via Net connections, allowing me to adjust my collection of games to meet my current interests, and get games that I no longer wanted to people who do want them, whether they live down the road from me in Maryland, or in Canada, Austria, Finland, Germany or Israel. I have also taken an Esperanto course via e-mail, and correspond irregularly in Esperanto with interested parties world wide."

来自罗伯特·迪恩： “对于我来说，我最主要的爱好就是玩战争游戏和角色扮演游戏。接入网络让我能与世界各地的玩家讨论这些游戏、想出新点子、在买新游戏之前收集对于它们的看法。另外，我也能通过网络买卖游戏，让我能够依照自己时下的兴趣调整自己的游戏收藏，也能把我不再需要的游戏卖给需要的人，无论这些人和我住在马里兰州的同一条街上，还是在加拿大、奥地利、芬兰、德国或是以色列。我还通过电子邮件开始学习世界语课程，并不定期与全世界的世界语爱好者通信交流。”

[编辑] Section 28
From: Caryn K. Roberts "Usenet & Internet are available to me at work and by dialup connection to work from home. I have been materially enriched by the use of the Net. I have managed to sell items I no longer needed. I have been able to purchase items from others for good prices. I have saved money and am doing my part to recycle technology instead of adding burdens to the municipal waste disposal service."

来自卡瑞·K·罗伯茨： “上班时候我可以上Usenet和因特网，回家以后我也可以拨号上网工作。使用网络极大的丰富了我的生活。我卖出去过自己不再需要的东西，也以合适的价格从别人那里买过东西。我既节约了金钱，也为物品回收工作做出了自己的贡献，为城市废物处理减轻了负担。”

Caryn continues:

"Using the Net I have also been enriched by discussions and information found in numerous newsgroups from sci.med to sci.skeptic to many of the comp.* groups. I have offered advice to solve problems and have been able to solve problems I had by using information in these forums."

卡瑞继续写道： “通过网络上从sci.med组到sci.skeptic组再到众多comp.*小组的讨论和信息，我收获颇丰。我既提出解决问题的建议，也用这些论坛上的信息解决过问题。”

[编辑] Section 29
____________________________________________ THE NET AS A SOURCE OF ENORMOUS RESOURCES

网络是一个庞大的资源库

Before the Net was widely seen as an enormous social network, some were experimenting with the sharing of computing resources. The following are some examples of ways Netizens utilize the information resources available on the Net.

在网络被广泛当成一个巨大社交网络之前，部分是作为电脑资源共享的一种所在。以下是几位网民利用网络可用资源的一些例子。

From: Tim North "I\'m faculty here at University and I use the Net as a major source of technical information for my lectures, up-to-date product information, and informed opinion. As such I find that I am constantly better informed than the people around me. (That sounds vain, but it\'s not meant to be. It\'s simply meant to emphasize how strongly I feel that the Net is a superb information resource.)"

来自蒂姆·诺斯： “我是大学教员，我把网络作为我讲课、及时获知产品信息和知晓观点的一个主要的技术信息来源。这让我发现自己通常比周围的人消息灵通。（这听起来似乎没什么用处，但实际不是这样的。我只是想强调自己认为网络是一种多么棒的信息源。）”

From: R.J. White "I used the Net to find parts for my 1971 Opel GT. I was living in North America at the time, and going through the normal channels, like GM, are no good. The Net was like an untapped resource."

来自R·J·怀特： “我在网上为我的1971欧宝GT寻找配件。那时我住在北美，通过通用公司那样的正规渠道不太好找这些东西。网络是一种还未被开发的资源。”

[编辑] Section 30
From: John Harper "[My] uses of the network [1] I once asked a question about an obscure point in history of math. on the sci.math newsgroup and got a useful answer from Exeter, UK. Beforehand I had no idea where anyone knowing the answer might be. I had drawn a blank in Oxford. [2] I asked a question about a slightly less obscure point on comp.lang.fortran which generated a long (and helpful) discussion on the Net for a week or two."

来自约翰·哈珀： “[我]曾用网络[1]询问过一个数学史上不太明白的问题。我在sci.math组里从英国埃克塞特的一个人那里得到了有用的答复。事先我对谁知道这个问题毫无头绪。在牛津那里我一无所获。[2]我还在comp.lang.fortran组问过一个不那么清楚的问题，而我的提问引发了一场持续一周或两周的长期有启发性的讨论。”

From: Paul Ready "Yes, it is a worldwide rapid distribution center of information, on topics both popular and obscure. It may not make the information more valuable, but it certainly increases the information, and the propagation of information. To those connected, it is a valuable resource. Flame wars aside, a lot of generally inaccessible information is readily available."

来自保罗·雷利： “是的，网络是全世界的一个快速信息传递中心，在流行的话题和不明白的问题上都是。它也许不会保证信息更有价值，但它的确会增大信息量并促进信息的传播。由于这些的缘故，网络是一种有价值的资源。除了热烈的讨论之外，网络还将许许多多一般接触不到的信息都摆在了我们面前。”

From: Lee Rothstein "Usenet and mailing lists create a group of people who are motivated and capable of talking about a specific topic. The software allows deeply contextual conversations to occur with a minimum of rehash. As experience develops with the medium, each user realizes that the other that he talks to or will talk to generally help him/her, and can do him/her no harm because of the remoteness imposed by the cable."

来自李·罗斯斯坦： “Usenet和邮件列表产生了一个有能力也有动力探讨专业话题的人群。软件帮助这种有很长上下文的讨论在最少重复的情况下进行。随着使用这种媒介经验的增加，每个用户都会意识到与他（她）讨论的或将要与他（她）讨论的人一般都会帮助自己，而且由于处于遥远的电缆两端，对自己也不会有任何损害。”

[编辑] Section 31
From: Lu Ann Johnson "Hi! Usenet came to my rescue -- I\'m a librarian and was working with a group of students on a marketing project. They were marketing a product -- a compact disc of "music hits of the 70\'s". They needed a source to tell them how much it cost to produce a CD -- without mastering, etc. I exhausted all my print resources so I posted the question in a business newsgroup. Within hours I learned from several companies that it cost about $1.50 to produce a CD :) The students were very grateful to get the information."

来自露·安·约翰逊： “你好！Usenet拯救了我。我是一个图书管理员，我与一群学生一起进行一项营销计划。他们在为一种叫做“70年代卖座金曲”的压缩光盘作促销。他们想要有人告诉他们在不熟练掌握的情况下生产一张CD需要多少钱之类的问题。查阅印刷资料让我精疲力竭，所以我把问题发在了商业新闻组上。几个小时的时间我得到了好几家公司的答复：生产一张CD要花费1.5美元：)学生们为得到这个信息欣喜不已。”

From: Laura Goodin "I teach self-defense, and in rec.martial-art someone posted information about a study on the effectiveness of Mace for self-defense that I had been looking for for years."

来自劳拉·古丁： “我是教自卫术的，在rec.martial-art组里面有人发了有关有效使用杖来自卫的资料，我找这些资料已经找了好几年了。”

From: Cliff Roberts "I have been using Internet through a program in New Jersey to bring the fields of Science and Math to grammar school children grades K-8. We have implemented a system where the class rooms are equipped with PC\'s and are able to dial in to a UNIX system. There they can send e-mail and post questions to a KidsQuest ID. The ID then routes the questions to volunteers with accounts on UNIX. The scientists then answer or give advice of where to find the information they want. Another well accepted feature is to list out the soc.penpals list and e-mail people in different countries that are being studied in the schools."

来自克里夫·罗伯茨： “我一直使用因特网向新泽西语法学校K-8年级的孩子们教授数学和自然科学领域的知识。我们装备了一种教室内安装的可以连接到UNIX系统的个人电脑。在这种网络里孩子们可以向一个叫KidsQuest的ID发送电子邮件和提问题。然后这个ID把问题发送到拥有UNIX账户的志愿者那里。随后科学家们会回答这些问题，或是向孩子们提出去哪里寻找答案的建议。网络另一个被广泛接受的特点是它列出了soc.penpals的列表并且能给不同国家在校内研究的人们发送电子邮件。”

[编辑] Section 32
From: Joe Farrenkopf "I think Usenet is a very interesting thing. For me, it\'s mostly just a way to pass time when bored. However, I have gotten some very useful things from it. There is one group in particular called comp.lang.fortran, and on several occasions when I\'ve had a problem writing a program, I was able to post to this group to get some help to find out what I was doing wrong. In these cases, it was an invaluable resource."

来自乔·法伦科普夫： “我觉得Usenet是个非常有趣的东西。对我来说，它是打发无聊时间最好途径。不过，我也从上面得到了一些非常有用的东西。有一个叫comp.lang.fortran的特别的小组，有些时候我编程遇到了问题，我能发帖在这个小组里面寻求帮助来找出自己的错误。从这方面讲，这是一种无价的资源。”

____________________________________________ COLLECTIVE WORK

As new connections are made between people more ideas travel over greater distances. This allows either like-minded people or complementary people to come in touch with each other. The varied resources of the networks allow these same people to keep in touch even if they would not have been able to be in touch before. Electronic mail allows enough detail to be contained in a message that most if not all communications can take place entirely electronically. This medium allows for new forms of collaborative work to form and thrive. New forms of research will probably arise from such possibilities. Here are some examples:

集体工作

当人们之间建立了新的联系，更多的观念就能跨越更远的距离。这就让志同道合的人们或是优势互补的人们能够彼此联系。网上各种各样的资源允许这些人笔记保持从前没法办到的联络。电子邮件让每条讯息能够包含足够的细节，这在没有完全电子化的通讯形式中是不可能的。这种媒介让许多新的协作性工作能够得到蓬勃发展。网络为新研究形式的产生创造了这些可能性。下面就是一些例子：

[编辑] Section 33
From: Wayne Hathaway "One `unusual\' use I made of the Net happened in 1977. Along with five other `Net Folks\' I wrote the following paper: `The ARPAnet TELNET Protocol: Its Purpose, Principles, Implementation, and Impact on Host Operating System Design,\' with Davidson, Postel, Mimno, Thomas, and Walden: Fifth Data Communications Symposium, Snowbird, UT; September 27-29, 1977. What\'s so unusual about a collaborative paper, you ask? Simply that the six of us never even made a TELEPHONE call about the paper, much less had a meeting or anything. Literally EVERYTHING -- from the first ideas in a `broadcast\' mail to the distribution of the final `troff-ready\' version -- was done with e-mail. These days this might not be such a deal, but it was interesting back then."

来自韦恩·哈萨维： “1977年，我完成了一次‘非同寻常的’网络经历。我与其他五位‘网络土著’一起完成了论文：《阿帕网远程登录协议：目的、准则、运行以及对主操作系统设计的冲击》，他们五个是戴维逊、波斯特尔、密姆诺、托马斯和沃登，1977年9月27-29日我们进行了第五次数据交流讨论会，Snowbird，UT。你要问我这篇合著论文有何不同寻常之处？其实很简单，我们之间没有见面开会之类的一切行为，甚至连电话都没有通过。我们从最初的想法开始到最终打印完成的版本每一个字都是通过电子邮件完成的。这放在现在也许没什么了不起的，但在那时候十分的有趣。”

From: Paul Gillingwater "...in Vienna was an on-line computer mediated art forum, with video conferencing between two cities, plus an on-line discussion in a virtual MUD-type conference later that evening."

来自保罗·基林沃特： “...通过两个城市间的视频会议加上稍后晚上通过虚拟MUD形式进行的会议讨论，这次维也纳举办了一次借助计算机在线传输的艺术论坛。”

[编辑] Section 34
A Response I received via e-mail:

"In response to your question about having fun on the net, and being creative, one incident comes to mind. I had met a woman on ForumNet (a system like IRC). She and I talked and talked about all sorts of things. One night, we felt especially artistic. We co-wrote a poem over the computer. I\'d type a few words, she\'d pick up where I left off (in the middle of sentences or wherever) and on and on. I don\'t think we had any idea what it was going to be in the end, thematically or structurally. In the end, we had a very good poem, one that I would try to publish if I knew her whereabouts anymore "

我收到的一封电子邮件回复： “在回复你有关网络获得的乐趣和创造性的问题时，一个偶然的事件进入了我的脑海。我曾在论坛网（系统类似网际网络中继聊天）上遇到一位女性。我和她谈了各种各样的事情。有一晚我们感到诗兴大发，就在计算机上共同作了一首诗。我打上去几个字，她补充我没写的部分（句子中间的或是别的什么地方的），就这样一次又一次来来回回。无论是主体上的还是结构上的，我不认为我们一开始有什么明确的最终追求。但最终我们做出了一首好诗，如果我再知道她的下落我一定要试着出版这首诗。”

____________________________________________ IMPROVING QUALITY OF EVERYDAY LIFE

Information flow can take various shapes. The strangest and perhaps most interesting one is how emotion can be attached to information flow. They often seem like two very different things. I received a large number of responses that reported real-life marriages arising from Net meetings. The Net facilitates the meeting of people of like interests. The newness of the Net means we cannot fully understand it as of yet. However, it is worth noting that people have also broken up on-line. So while it is a new social medium, a range of dynamics will exist.

改善日常生活的质量信息流可以有多种实现形式。最强大也许也是最有趣的一种就是感情如何与信息流联系在一起，因为它们通常被视为风马牛不相及的两种东西。我收到大量报告以见网友开头却以显示婚姻结尾的回复。网络让趣味相投者更容易聚到一起。网络产生的新事物意味着它已非当初吴下阿蒙。尽管人们也会轻易在网上交恶，不过作为一种新型社交媒介，网络会大范围催生人们的活力。

[编辑] Section 35
From: Caryn K. Roberts "I have found friends on the Net. A lover. And two of the friends I met, also met online and got married. I attended the wedding (in California)."

来自卡瑞·K·罗伯茨： “我在网上交了些朋友，还得到了我的爱人。我的另外两个网上朋友也结婚了。我还曾加了婚礼（在加利福尼亚）。”

From: Scott Kitchen "I think I can add something for your paper. I met my fiancee 4 years ago over the net. I was at Ohio State, and she was in Princeton, and we started talking about an article of hers I\'d read in rec.games.frp. We got to talking, eventually met, found we liked each other, and the rest is history. We were married 31 December 1994."

来自司考特·基臣： “我觉得我能给你的论文添加点什么。我4年前在网上遇到了我的未婚妻。我在俄亥俄州，她在普林斯顿，我们的关系源于我读到了她在rec.games.frp小组里面写的一篇文章并随后与她展开了交谈。我们一直交谈，最终我们见面兵发现彼此相爱，接下来的事情就是老套路了。我们在1994年12月31日结婚。”

From: Gregory G. Woodbury "I met the woman who became my wife when I started talking to the folks at "phs" (the third site of the original Usenet) during the development of Netnews. I would not have been wandering around that area if I hadn\'t been interested in the development of the net."

来自格里高利·G·伍德博里： “我和人们在‘phs’（原始Usenet的第三个站点）上开始谈论网络新闻的发展时，我遇到了后来成为我妻子的人。如果我不关心网络发展，当初我就不会在那个地方待着。”

[编辑] Section 36
From: Laura Goodin "And now, the BEST story: about eight months ago I was browsing soc.culture.australia and I noticed a message from an Australian composer studying in the US about an alternative tune to "Waltzing Matilda." I was curious, so I responded in e-mail, requesting the tune and just sort of shooting the breeze. We began an e-mail correspondence that soon incorporated voice calls as well. One thing led inexorably to another and we fell in love (before we met face to face, actually). We did eventually meet face to face. Last month he proposed over the Internet (in soc.culture.australia) and I accepted. Congratulatory messages came in from all over the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Houston (that\'s his name) and I keep our phone bills from resembling the national debt by sending 10 or 12 e-mails a day (we\'re well over 1400 for eight months now), and chatting using IRC. A long-distance relationship is hellish, but the pain is eased somewhat by the Internet."

From: Chuq Von Rospach "(oh, and in the "how the Net made my non-net life better" category, I met my wife via the net. Does that count?)" ____________________________________________

[编辑] Section 37
WORK

The fluid connections and the rapidly changing nature of the networks make the Net a welcome media for those who are job hunting and for those who have jobs to offer. The networks have a large turnover of people who are looking for jobs. The placement of job annoucements is easy and can be kept available for as long as the job is offered. E-mail allows for the quick and easy applications by sending resumes in the e-mail. Companies can respond quickly and easy to such submissions, also by e-mail.

Besides finding work, the Net helps people who are currently working perform their job in the best manner. Many people utilize the Net to assist them with their jobs. Several examples of both follow:

From: Laura Goodin "My division successfully recruited a highly-qualified consultant (a Finn living in Tasmania) to do some work for us; the initial announcement was over Usenet; subsequent negotiations were through e-mail."

[编辑] Section 38
From: jj "I\'ve hired people off the net, and from meeting them in muds, when I find somebody who can THINK. People who can think are hard to find anywhere."

From: Diana Gregory "I have learned to use UNIX, and as a result may be able to keep/advance in my job due to the \'net."

From: Neil Galarneau "It helps me do my job (MS Windows programming) and it helps me learn new things (like C++)."

From: Kieran Clulow "The Internet access provided me by the university has greatly facilitated my ability to both use and program computers and this has had the direct result of improving my grades as well as gaining me a good job in the computer field. Long live the Internet (and make it possible for private citizens to get access!)"

[编辑] Section 39
From: Mark Gooley "I got my job by answering a posting to a news-group."

From: Anthony Berno "I develop for NEXTSTEP, and the Net is very useful in getting useful programming hints, info on product releases, rumors, etcetera."

From: Gregory G. Woodbury "Due to contacts made via Usenet and e-mail, I got a job as a consultant at BTL in 1981 after I lost my job at Duke. Part of the qualifications that got me in the door was experience with Usenet."

[编辑] Section 40
____________________________________________ IMPROVED COMMUNICATIONS WITH FRIENDS

Another way of improving daily life is by making communications with friends easier. The ease of sending e-mail is bringing back letter writing. However, the immediacy of e-mail means less care can be made in the process of writing. E-mail, IRC and Netnews make it much easier to keep in touch with friends outside one\'s local area.

NETIZEN COMMENTS ON IMPROVED COMMUNICATIONS:

From: Bill Walker "I also have an old and dear friend (from high school) who lives in the San Francisco area. After I moved to San Diego, we didn\'t do very well at keeping in touch. She and I talked on the phone a couple of times a year. After we discovered we were both on the net, we started corresponding via e-mail, and we now exchange mail several times a week. So, the Net has allowed me to keep in much closer touch with a good friend. It\'s nothing that couldn\'t be done by phone, or snail mail, but somehow we never got around to doing those things. E-mail is quick, easy and fun enough that we don\'t put it off."

[编辑] Section 41
From: Anthony Berno "Incidentally, it is also one of my primary modes of communication with my sister (who lives in N.Z.) It\'s more meditative than a phone call, faster than a letter, and cheaper than either of them."

From: Carole E. Mah "It also facilitates great friendships. Most of my friends, even in my own town, I met on the network. This can often alleviate feelings of loneliness and "I\'m the only one, I must be a pervert" feelings among queer people just coming out of the closet. They have a whole world of like-minded people to turn to on Usenet, on Bitnet lists, on IRC, in personal e-mail, on BBSs and AOL type conferences, etc."

[编辑] Section 42
From: Jann VanOver "Apart from purchases, I have been contacted by: 1) a very good friend from college who I\'d lost track of. She got married to a man she met in a singles newsgroup (they\'ve been married 2 years+) 2) someone who went to my high school, knew a lot of the same people I did, but we didn\'t know each other. We are now `mail buddies\' 3) an old girlfriend of my brothers. They went out for eight years, but I learned more about her from ONE e-mail letter than I had ever learned when meeting her in person."

From: Godfrey Nolan "Above all it helps me keep in touch with friends who I would inevitably lose otherwise. The Net helps those that move around for economic reasons to lessen the worst aspects of leaving your friends in the series of places that you once called home. It\'s the best thing since sliced bread."

[编辑] Section 43
____________________________________________ PROBLEMS

With all of the positive uses and advantages of the Net, it is still not perfect. The blind-view of people on the Net seems to shield everyone, but women. There is a relatively large male to female percentage population on the Net. Women on-line can feel the effects of this difference. Women who have easily identifiable user names or IDs are prone to be the center of much attention. While that might be good in itself, much of that attention can be of a hostile or negative nature. This attention might be detrimental to women being active on the Net. Net harassment can spread against other users too. People with unpopular ideas need to be strong to withstand the outlash of abuse they might receive from others.

The worst non-people problem seems to be information overflow. Information adds up very quickly and it can be hard to organize it all and sort through. This problem should be solvable as technology is now being developed to handle it.

[编辑] Section 44
From: Scott Hatton "There is a problem with this brave new world in that a lot of people don\'t appreciate there\'s another human being at the other keyboard. Flaming is a real problem -- especially in comp.misc. This is all a new facet of the technology as well. People rarely trade insults in real life like they do on Internet. There\'s a tendency to stereotype your opponent into categories. I think this is because you\'re not around to witness the results. I find this more on Internet newsgroups than on CompuServe. I think this is down to maturity -- a lot of folk on the Internet are students who aren\'t paying for their time on the system. Those on CompuServe are normally slightly older, not so hot-headed and are paying for their time. Damn. Now I\'m at stereotyping now. It just goes to show "

From: Joe Farrenkopf "There is something else I\'ve discovered that is really rather fascinating. People can be incredibly rude when communicating through this medium. For example, some time ago, I posted a question to lots of different newsgroups, and many people felt my question was inappropriate to their particular group. They wrote to me and told me so, using amazingly nasty words. I guess it\'s easier to be rude if you don\'t have to face a person, but can say whatever you want over a computer."

[编辑] Section 45
From: Brad Kepley "I get a little irritated with people always claiming someone else is `wasting bandwidth\' because they disagree with them. About half the time it turns out that the person being told to shut up was right after all. Then again, when you look at things like alt.binaries.pictures.erotica and other `non-bandwidth-wasting\' activities, it seems almost comical to me when someone says this. There is nothing more wasteful than 95% of what Usenet is used for. It\'s a joke to say that a particular person is `wasting\' it. To say that they are off-topic makes more sense. I guess this is just a gripe rather than what you are looking for. Wasting bandwidth again. :)" ____________________________________________ CONCLUSION

For the people of the world, the Net provides a powerful means for peaceful assembly. Peaceful assembly allows for people to take control over their lives, rather than that control being in the hands of others. This power deserves to be appreciated and protected. Any medium or tool that helps people to hold or gain power is something that is special and has to be protected.

[编辑] Section 46
The Net has made a valuable impact on human society. As my research has demonstrated, people\'s lives have been substantially improved via their connection to the Net. This sets the basis for providing access to all in society. Using similar reasoning, J.C.R. Licklider and Robert Taylor believed that access to the then growing information network should be made ubiquitous. They felt that the Net\'s value would depend on high connectivity. In their article, "The Computer as a Communication Device", they argued that the impact upon society depends on how available the network is to the society as a whole.(8)

Society will improve if Net access is made available to people as a whole. Only if access is universal will the Net itself advance. The ubiquitous connection is necessary for the Net to encompass all possible resources. One Net visionary responded to my research by calling for universal access. Steve Welch writes: "If we can get to the point where anyone who gets out of high school alive has used computers to communicate on the Net or a reasonable facsimile or successor to it, then we as a society will benefit in ways not currently understandable. When access to information is as ubiquitous as access to the phone system, all Hell will break loose. Bet on it."

[编辑] Section 47
Steve is right, "all Hell will break loose" in the most positive of ways imaginable. The philosophers Thomas Paine, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and all other fighters for democracy would have been proud.

Similar to past communications advances such as the printing press, mail, and the telephone, the Global Computer Communications Network has already fundamentally changed our lives. Licklider predicted that the Net would fundamentally change the way people live and work. It is important to try to understand this impact, so as to help further this advance.

[编辑] Section 48

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes for CHAPTER 1

(1) See the Internet Society NEWS, vol 2 no 1, Spring 1993, inside back cover for map.

(2) J.C.R. Licklider and Robert W. Taylor, "The Computer as a Communication Device," reprinted in "In Memoriam: J.C.R. Licklider 1915-1990," Digital Research Center, August 7, 1990; originally published in Science and Technology, April, 1968.

(3) Ibid., p. 32.

(4) Proceedings of IEEE, vol 66 no 11, November, 1978.

(5) J.C.R. Licklider and Robert W. Taylor, p.32.

(6) Stefferud, Einar et al, "Quotes from Some of the Players," ConneXions - The Interoperability Report, vol 3 no 10, Foster City, California. October, 1989, p. 21.

(7) See article by Larry Press posted on the comp.risks newsgroup, September 6, 1991.

(8) J.C.R. Licklider and Robert W. Taylor, p. 40.

[编辑] Section 49

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Much thanks is owed to the many who contributed Usenet posts and e- mail responses to requests for examples of how the Net has changed people\'s lives. Only a few of the many replies received could be quoted but all contributed to this work.

The following people who were quoted chose that their email addresses be included:

Jim Carroll jcarroll@jacc.com Kieran Clulow u1036254@vmsuser.acsu.unsw.edu.au Robert Dean robdean@access.digex.net Jack Frisch frischj@gbms01.uwgb.edu Scott Hatton 100114.1650@compuserve.com Lu Ann Johnson ai411@yfn.ysu.edu Jean-Francois Messier messier@igs.net Larry Press lpress@isi.edu Chuq Von Rospach chuqui@plaidworks.com Gregory G. Woodbury news@wolves.durham.nc.us

Last Updated: June 5, 1996

[编辑] Section 50

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This article is a draft chapter from Michael Hauben\'s <hauben@columbia.edu> and Ronda Hauben\'s <rh120@columbia.edu> netbook titled "Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet."

Commercial use is prohibited*
Please send us any comments about this draft. Send comments to both hauben@columbia.edu and rh120@columbia.edu.

背景阅读编辑本段 回目录

《科学文化评论》第5卷第2期(2008)：77—85

科学与社会互联网的国际和科学起源及网民的出现

朗达豪本

编者按当前，互联网的传播日益深远和广泛，对社会的影响也越来越大.美国哥伦比亚大学朗达·豪本(RondaHauben)一家(丈夫杰伊·豪本[JayHauben]，儿子迈克尔·豪本[MichaelHauben])均是互联网史研究专家.2O世纪9O年代初，朗达和迈克尔开始研究新闻组网和互联网的历史及其社会影响，迈克尔还是"netizen"一词的发明者。1994年，他们将其研究汇成专著在网上发布，1997年该书正式出版，书名为《网民：论新闻组网和互联网的历史和影响》。

本文是朗达基于2005年信息社会全球峰会(WSIS)突尼斯阶段会议中的演讲修

改而成，杰伊认为该文较好地反映了他们的工作，特向本刊推荐.刘晓译，郝刘祥校。

互联网的国际起源

关于互联网(The Intemet)的起源，流传着不少"神话".一个广为流传的说法

是，互联网是在美国由美国国防部创建的，以作为能够在核战争中备用的通讯系统。

互联网起源于美国国防部防备核战争的观点，在许多方面都是错误的，其中最突

出的有： (1)互联网是科学和技术合作的结果，其初期发展是国际性的；

(2)当时有一个指导和激励国际性合作发展的设想；

(3)互联网是一个解决多网络问题，即连接不同网络的方案。

这个神话的产生，看来有两个根源：一是对互联网是什么及其如何与阿帕网(The

Arpanet，美国国防部高级研究计划署建立的计算机网)相区别的误解，一是以为数据

包交换技术发端于创建阿帕网的那些研究者。

①该演讲的幻灯片见http：llwww.columbia.edu/ f/RHauben，ppt。

这个神话首先来自错误地将数据包交换技术归功于保罗·巴兰(Paul Baran)在

兰德研究所的工作.这是不准确的.巴兰的研究与创建阿帕网或互联网的早期工作皆

无关.拉瑞罗伯茨(LarryRoberts)曾是美国国防部信息处理技术办公室(IPTO)的

负责人，在1967—1972年间领导了创建阿帕网的研究工作.对于这一混淆，他写道：

1965年，在麻省理工学院召开了一个会议.来自英国国家物理实验室的唐纳

德戴维斯(DonaldDavies)当时正在麻省理工学院主持一个关于分时技术

(time.sharing)的讨论班.利克里德(J.c.R Licklider)，戴维斯和我讨论了网络

连接，以及数据交换设备在分时和联网中的不足.戴维斯声称正是在这次会议后

不久，他突然有了一个想法，即针对很短信息的存储转发系统(现在称之为包交

换)是联机交互系统中的理想通讯系统。

罗伯茨接着写道，戴维斯将他的想法写成一份题为"为在线数据处理发展国家通

讯服务设施的提议"的文件，文中构想了一个干线网速为每秒100K比特到1.5M比

特(T1)的通讯网络，信息大小为128比特，一个交换器每秒可以处理1万条信息(关

于历史的注释：这用了20年才实现).接着，1966年6月，戴维斯又撰写了第二篇内部

报告，"关于数字通讯网络的提议"，文中他首次借packet来称呼"数据包"——用户

所要发送的信息的一个很小的子部分，并引入了"接口计算机"的概念，表示连接用户

设备和数据包网络的计算机.他的设计还包括封包组合及拆解(PAD)的概念，用以连

接代码终端，今天已成为大部分数据包网络的普通要素。

罗伯茨解释道："戴维斯在分发其1965年论文之后，作为回报得到一份题为'论

分布式通讯'的兰德公司内部报告，系兰德公司的巴兰1964年8月所作.巴兰的历史

性文献中也描述了一个短信息的交换网络，干线传输速率达到T1，信息大小为128比

特."但巴兰的报告是关于声音网络的.1997年3月22日，罗伯茨曾评价巴兰工作的

影响："主要是茶余饭后的谈资，并未真正激发网络技术的发展."

尽管戴维斯对数据包交换技术的贡献还没有得到应有的承认，该项技术的发展

也只是与阿帕网的创立有关，而与互联网的创立无关.互联网是网络之网，是基于国际

研究议程订立TCP/IP协议而创建的。

更具体地说，当年互联网研究的目标就是要使跨网络的交流成为可能.在互联网

的诞生阶段(1973—1983)，诸如英国，法国，加拿大和其他一些国家，或是实际上创建

了自己国家的或专门的计算机网络，或是制定了这方面的发展计划.这些网络不仅在

技术上有着差异，而且掌握在不同的政府和管理机构手中.如何提供跨网络的通讯，因

①诈隋请参阅：http：//ais.org/~jrh/acn/acn15.2.articles/rhauben.pdf。

此就成为一个需要解决的问题。

解决这一问题的方案就是创设一个被称作TCP/IP的协议.TCPfiP协议使不同网

络之间的跨网通讯成为可能.TCPfiP协议本身就是合作研究的产物，参与者包括由挪

威地震研究中心站点(NORSAR)所联系的挪威研究者，由伦敦大学学院(UCL)站

点所联系的英国研究者，以及参与信息处理技术办公室创建阿帕网的美国研究者①。

二互联网的科学起源

接下来我想集中讨论那些我认为使互联网成为可能的科学根源.我将强调，尽管

这些科学根源还没有被充分理解甚至时常得不到公认，但它们对于理解互联网的本质

以及维护其未来发展都是至关重要的。

要理解这些互联网发展过程中的科学上的根源，我们需要回顾二战刚结束后的

那段时期.在那个时期，科学界对于理解通讯科学显示出极大的热晴.一个由科学家，

数学家，工程师和社会科学家组成的群体，对探索通讯过程产生了浓厚的兴趣.其中有

些研究者所采取的做法就是参加一个跨学科的研究团体，半年或一年集会一次.重要

的是，这些研究者从事着不同的学科研究，操着不同的科学语言。

他们的努力就是力图跨越各自独立的学科界限.这个群体的会议有许多不同的

名称，但有一段时间它们都被称作"梅西基金会控制论会议"(The Josiah Macy Jr。

Foundation Conferences on Cybemetics).关于控制论，人们谈论较多的就是"反馈"

或"自组织系统".该会议不仅研究通讯和交流，而且致力于推动更有利于通讯和交流

的实践.每次会议都在周末举行，只报告2—3篇论文.在报告过程中，如果有人对所提

观点不解，或需要澄清，可直接向作者提问，这是受欢迎的.论文宣读完毕，就进行从主

题引发的更为广泛的交流和讨论.会议内容有录音记录，根据录音整理的文件在会后

发给与会者，以进行订正和澄清.出版的会议报告包括报告论文和讨论内容.从1942

年直至1953年，梅西会议共举行了10次，出版有5卷会议报告。

利克里德(他让人叫他利克)是一个在通讯研究方面做出过重大贡献的科学家。

他的博士论文是一项开创性的工作，通过确立猫所接受的不同音调在其大脑中的定

位，揭示了猫是如何形成对不同频率声音的感知的。

利克里德还在工程学上做出了一项重大突破，这项突破被称作"削波语言".他

①Ronda Haube~The Internet On its International Origins and Collaborative Vision In http'.//www~isorg/-ron。

da/new.papers/birth_tcp.txt。

能够鉴别出一个声波中的哪些细节部分对于该声波的觉察是至关重要的(这给二战中

的美军帮了忙，飞行员籍此可以在嘈杂背景下辨认出关键的声音)。

利克里德对通讯研究非常感兴趣.尽管他只参加了10次梅西基金会控制论会议

中的一次，但在1953年梅西会议停止后，他和其他科学家获得美国国家科学基金会

(NSF)的支持，于1954年在麻省理工学院(MIT)召开了类似的关于控制论的会议。

NSF会议的名称是"人类通讯及控制方面的问题".会议记录随后被整理出来，利克

里德对其进行了编辑.该报告也像梅西会议的报告一样公开出版了。

在这一时期，计算机科学家和工程师对理解大脑(及神经系统)的活动比较感兴

趣，而像利克里德这样研究脑科学的科学家又对计算机的工作感兴趣.人们直觉认为，

对大脑运行机制的洞察也能从计算机的研究中获得.类似地，计算机科学的研究者也

相信，了解大脑如何活动将可能实现计算机科学的突破。

利克里德的主要兴趣是大脑的工作方式，以及更先进的计算机发展如何能够帮助

科学家和工程师之间的研究合作.他最感兴趣的是建模的方式.在1968年与罗伯特

泰勒(Robert Taylor)合写的一篇论文中[Licklider&Taylor 1968，P.21]，两人写道：

迄今为止，最多数，最精致和最重要的模型都存在于人的大脑之中。

对于利克里德来讲，计算机如何能够帮助人们实现模型一个例子是伊万，萨瑟兰

(Ivan Suthedand)创作的程序画板.当时还是MIT研究生的沃伦泰特曼(Warren

Teitelman)描述了他所看到的萨瑟兰演示其建模程序的场景：

萨瑟兰勾画了一座桥的主梁，并标出了连接各部件的铆接点.他在每根主梁末端

画了一个支柱，在大桥中点加了一个负载.这个模型显示了主梁因负载而下垂，以

及每个部件的张力数字。

萨瑟兰能够利用该建模程序添加所需要的支柱.加上支柱后，按照计算机模拟程序，这

座桥就能够承受所加的载荷.对于利克里德所构想的科学共同体能否获得他们建模

所需的技术而言，这是一个令人鼓舞的实例。

利克里德认为，建模不仅在科学研究中是至关重要的，在社会中也是这样.在描

述一个他认为刻画了大脑的功能的建模时，他和泰勒写道：

在丰富性，可塑性，灵巧性和经济性方面，大脑模型有着无可比拟的优势，但在另

外一些方面，它有自身的缺点。

该模型的根本缺点是它仅存在于单个人的大脑中，因而

它只能被一个人所观察和操控。

为了让这种模型发挥社会功能，就需要将个人头脑中的模型转变为一个协同进程的一

部分.如利克里德和泰勒所述，这是因为

社会有权不信任单个头脑的建模。

更明确地说，

社会的要求……就是要求个人的模型必须经过比较并获得某种程度的共识.这种

对交流的要求，我们现在将其明确地定义为"协作"建模——即在建构，维护和应

用模型时进行协作。

利克里德和泰勒接着说明，就像他们所相信的大脑中正在运行的过程一样，这种协作

建模需要的是

一个可以按照模型建造出的可塑媒介，一个能够将进程导向结果的动态媒介。

最重要的是，这种媒介支持集体的贡献和加工，因此它是

一种能够让所有人参与贡献和实验的公共媒介。

利克里德和泰勒设想，不断壮大的在线群体将随互联网的进步而得到这种协作建模的

能力.他们设想，能够进人这种弹性的协作环境，对于社会和科学的进步都是大为有利

的.随着互联网的发展，新型的科学协作和建模，正如利克里德和泰勒所提议的那样，

已经成为可能。

除了科学的协作发展需要这种可建模的媒介外，利克里德还主张，将来还需要一

个具备支持网络持续发展能力的协作团体；当外行官员被任命来决策计算机技术发展

的时候，该协作团体就可以针对出现的问题予以干预.利克里德是那些知道政府的蹩

脚技术和政治决策所造成的后果的科学家中的一员(如二战中盟军对平民的轰炸，它

可能使战争拖延了至少6个月)。

1960年，为纪念MIT成立100周年举行了一系列演讲.英国科学家和作家斯诺

(C.P.Snow)被邀请来就这个问题发表演讲，他演讲的题目是"科学家与决策"。

在他的演讲中，斯诺描述了对新计算机技术的本质的理解，和负责决策的政府官

员对如何支持新技术发展的理解之间，可能存在的鸿沟.斯诺解释了这样的一个问题

何以需要有物理学上的布朗运动现象那样一种局面.参照英国二战后当全社会开始

讨论国民卫生保健需要时发生的事情，斯诺概括了这一现象：

我认为最健康的社会决策是以类似于布朗运动的方式出现的.遍布各地的

各种人群突然在同一时间被同一愿望，同一兴趣所打动，从而形成一种集中的压

力和倾向.这些集中的压力随后逐渐通过各种渠道传达到相关人群，这些人的例

行责任就是出台正式的法律条文。

就在斯诺发表MIT演讲之后不久，利克里德被邀请加人到高级研究计划署

(AR~A).他着手成立一个研究计算机科学的办公室和一个研究行为科学的办公

室.他把前者称为信息处理技术办公室(IPTO，1962—1986).利克里德是首任主任，后

被伊万萨瑟兰接替.经历了几位继任者之后，1 974年，利克里德又被请回来担任该办公

室主任。

在他1975年离开IPTO后的著作和演讲中，利克里德描述了他在美国国防部中

为计算机基础研究寻求支持时碰到的问题，以及对公众的需要——他们会在问题出

现的时候积极帮助解决。

利克里德没有要求公众对每一个问题进行表决.相反他强调，对于促进公众利益

而言，表决是一种多么不足的方式.他写道：

在公众不理解的情况下进行投票仅能说明公众的态度，而不是公众的利益.这意

味者，众多热衷公共事务的个人必须研究，模拟，分析，争论，撰述，批评每一个难

题和问题，提出个人的解决方案，直到相互达成一致；仅当确定无法达成一致时，

才可能需要投票.[Licklider1979，P.126】

利克里德说明了政府决策需要公众的参与，以协助确定如何支持计算机技术

的持续发展.更具意义的是，利克里德提出，仅当公众具有参与到政府运行中来的某

种渠道时，才会对政府的运行产生兴趣.他预见到，计算机的发展将提供这种渠道。

他写道：

对公众来说，未来要实现多数人通晓政府的运行对之并产生兴趣，计算机的力量

将是不可或缺的。

利克里德所强调的在计算机技术发展中公众参与的过程，是一种带有讨论特征

的过程，它是我从1980年代早期发展起来的Usenet新闻组以及一些最早的邮件列表

中发现的.这个过程承担了必不可少的技术性讨论的功能，如在向TCP~P的转换完

成之时，他们对阿帕网TCP/IP摘要(The ARPANET TCP/IP Digest)的讨论①。

这种讨论还帮助发展和传播了遍布各地的计算机网络化的图景.1980年代早期，

人类网(Human Nets)等网站的邮件列表和Usenet新闻组都讨论过这一图景。

一个具有公共精神的在线公民集合，在利克里德看来，对于计算机和网络技术的

持续支持和发展非常重要.但更重要的是，1990年代初，一名大学生通过自己的研究

确认了这样一个在线公民集合之存在。

①比如参阅Ronda Hauben，A Study of the ARPANET TCP/IP Digest and of the Role of Online Commu—

nication in the Transition from the ARPANET to the Internet.in http：//umcc.ais

.org/-ronda/new.papers/

tcpdraft.txt。

三网民的出现

l992—1993年，作为其大学课程论文之一部分，迈克尔豪本(Michael Hauben)，

在Usenet(一个世界性的在线论坛)新闻组发布了关于网络发展的一系列问题和一

些初步研究.他还发布了关于若干网络邮件列表的问题.令迈克尔惊讶的是，他开始在

自己的信箱中收到对问题的回复.通过后来的发帖和对回复的分析，他认识到，这些在

线与他联系的人，已经获得了一种新型的自觉和自我认同.他收到的许多回复显示，人

们在网上不仅感兴趣于不断发展的网络如何丰富了他们的生活，而且还有许多人正在

致力于向他人传播上网的途径或方法。

迈克尔已经看到，"网络公民(net citizen)"一词指的就是这些在线者.考虑到那

些给他回复邮件的人们所表现出的社会关怀和社会意识，以及基于网络形式的不带地

域色彩的公民身份，他把net与citizen两个单词缩并为netizen(网民)，"网民"遂成

为他在研究时发现的表征在线者社会身份的用语。

他写了一篇题为"网络与网民：网络对人们生活的影响"(The Net and Netizens：

The Impact the Net has on People'S Lives)的论文，描述了他所做的研究，以及他从世

界许多地方收到的来信.这项研究完成于l992—1993年，正是互联网向许多国家传

播，世界各地各种局域网实现首次互连的时候。

1993年7月6日，迈克尔在Usenet以及多个互联网邮件列表中分4部分发布他

的论文"常识：网络与网民：网络对人们生活的影响"(Common Sense：The Net and

Nefizens：the Impact the Net is having on people'S lives).世界各地的许多人都表示读

到过这篇有趣的文章，"网民"一词不胫而走，不仅在网络世界中迅速传播，而且很快

出现在报纸和其他网络之外的出版物中。

我与迈克尔合作，也通过在在网络上发帖来做一些研究和写作.一位对我们的写

作感兴趣的读者建议我们将这些文章编成一本书.于是我们收集了这些文章，并于

1994年1月以在线图书的形式发布在网上，书名为网民和网络的奇妙世界》(Netizens

and e Wonderful World of￡be Net).1997年，该书的第二版以印刷版的形式出版，书

名为网民：论新闻组网和互联网的历史和影响》(Netizen~On曲e HistoryandImpact

ofUsenetand eInternet)，该书已被译成日文在日本出版。

正如迈克尔所述，网民是那些体现了社会意识和公众意向的人们，类似于利克里德曾

经设想的，能够对计算机技术的持续发展和支持该发展的公众政策发挥重要影响的人群。

1995年1 1月，迈克尔应邀到日本别府湾的一个会议上发言.在演讲中，他解释了

为什么他觉得区别"网民"一词的两种不同用法非常重要：一种是媒体所采纳的一般

用法，凡是上网的人都是网民；另一种是他提出的用法，"网民"仍限定为那些积

极参与网络建设，使之成为世界的更好组成部分的网络用户.他解释道：

网民是这样一些人，他们懂得要用每个人的努力和行动，让网络成为一个不断更

新和生机勃勃的社群和资源.网民是那些愿意付出时间和精力，将网络一我们世界

的一个新的组成部分一变成一个更美好的家园的人们。

来自世界各地的人们采用了这个用法，并帮助传播了"网民"的自觉和自我认

同.当前一个特别有趣的进展是韩国的网友.我最近到韩国访问时，曾向我所遇到的许

多人询问他们是否是"网民"，所有人都回答是，或"我希望是"。

韩国是世界上网络铺设最好的国家之一，超过80%的人口已接入高速互联网.与

高速传播的网络接入同步，韩国人中的网络公民也迅速发展壮大。

与迈克尔研究1990年代初在线互动的方式类似，韩国的研究者也记录了相似的

进程以及网民对韩国社会的影响.这些进步的一个特别有趣的方面是，一些先前未曾

联网的机构开始采用网络处理，同样，一些在线的俱乐部也出现了线下组织形式.韩国

互联网协会主席全吉南(Kilnam Chon)教授在论文"韩国互联网简史"(BreifHistory

ofthe Intemet in Korea)中曾讨论了韩国互联网和网民的发展②。

四进一步的问题

在线的富有弹性的合作，使得利克里德和泰勒在1968年论文中所描述的交互式

建模成为可能；从这个角度，我们可以更好地理解在线世界随互联网在世界范围内的

普及和发展而发生的演进.同样重要的是，我们要认识到在线用户作为网民的社会意

识正在不断增强。

我这里不打算深入探讨促使互联网诞生和发展的科学史和技术史的丰富细节。

我想强调的是，对于利克里德提出的，作为推动技术发展的社会和科学进步之关键的

交互式合作建模，是如何通过互联网来实践的，需要进行专门的研究，无论是历史的研

究还是当代的研究。

我还想强调，需要把这方面的研究成果带给那些致力于互联网的持续发展及其基础

①1995年l1月24迈克尔-豪本在"超网络95，日本别府湾会议"上的演讲，该会议主题是"网民公民革命

和区域信息基础设施"。

②http：//www.ais.org/~jrbJacrdacn1 5-2.articles/chon.pd~

设施的运营的人们的公共政策实践中.例如，突尼斯举行的WSIS峰会(2005年l1月)

表明，互联网基础设施的运营就需要一个合适的模型.我想提议，我们需要一种弹性的，

合作的，互动的和国际性的在线公共进程，来为管理互联网基础设施所需要的模型奠定

基础.实际上，WSIS峰会的讲坛上充斥着过时的，先于互联网的出现而提出的模型。

从我的论文和研究中引发出不少研究性问题.我希望对这些问题感兴趣的人们

能找到办法对之展开深入讨论。

总之，不仅互联网以一种惊人的速度和影响力在发展和传播，而且网民——在互

联网营造的环境中成长起来的在线公民——也在世界范围内不断发展和壮大.互联

网的发展和传播所带来的好处，不仅是在线的，弹性的，合作的，互动的环境，同时带来

的还有日益成长的网络公民意识.我想强调，网民的贡献和参与得到认可和鼓励，对于

互联网的持续发展和传播极端重要。

正如迈克尔所评论道：

网民，是那些在家中，办公室，学校和图书馆等地使用网络的网络公民.这些人属

于那些普及网络，并使之成为人类资源的群体之列.这些网民的共同参与，使得网络成

为人类的知识财富和社会财富。

参考文献

Licklider，J-C.R&RTaylor1968.TheComputerasaCommunicationDevice.in/nMemoriam."J=CR

Licldider，J9J5一J99n P.2 1.in http：//memex.org/licklider.pdf。

Licklider，J.C.R.1 979.Computers and Government.in Dertouzos.M.L.&J.Moses(Eds.).The

Computer Age：A Twenty-year View.Cambridge，MA：The MIT Press。

①MichaelHaubert FurtherThoughtsaboutNetizens Inhttp：//www.columbia.edu/-hauben/CS/netizen_thoughts。

htm1.另见Netizens：On the Hismry and Impact ofUsenet and the Intemet.In http：//www.columbi&edu/-hauben/netbook/

网民

网民也就是日常经常上网的人。简单来说，假如互联网是一个国家的话，网民就是这个国家的公民。它是一个概念模糊的词，没有确切的定义。

词源

来自英语的Netizen，是一个混成词，语源自“互联网”（Internet）及“市民”（citizen）两个概念。“Netizen”在英语里像1990年代末互联网泡沫的许多词汇一样没有被流行化。现在常用来表达此词义的英语词汇是“web user”（网络用户）。

生活习惯

作为一个网民，他每天都要花上数个小时在网上。这些时间可能他在工作、可能在阅读电子邮件、也可能在聊天室或留言板与其他人交谈。在中国大陆，他们会称呼一些经常呆在网上的人为网虫。这些网虫很可能已经把日常生活的大部份工作，例如：安排会议、记事等各种功能都搬到网上的门户网站去。另外，再加上现时各种各样的移动通信设备，使网民即使离开了办公室及家居，仍然可以随时随地的上网。

社会学意义

一般来说，网民都经常光顾各网络论坛，并对某一事件或主题发表自己的看法。在网络上，由于其真实身份被屏障了，人们可以获得相对更多的舆论自由，因此网民的观点经常被看成是民意的真实反映。中国大陆一些非法游行、抗议就是由网民联合策动的。互联网民使网民的力量更容易聚合为一，组成社会中的一种新力量──第五权。

参考文献编辑本段 回目录

http://www.news365.com.cn/wxpd/sp/gjgc/200712/t20071224_1697586.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Netizens-History-Impact-Internet-Perspectives/dp/0818677066
http://www.yeeyan.com/articles/view/96384/58016
http://www.columbia.edu/~rh120/

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