From: Ricardo Dominguez [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: 10 January 2005 18:26
To: Interdisciplinary academic study of Cyber Society
Subject: ACTS International Symposium - Jan 18th to 21, 2005

ACTS International Symposium
 Art_Science_Technology_Society

 From 19th to 21st January, 2005
 Conde Duque Cultural Centre
 MediaLabMadrid

 From the 18th to the 20th January, 2005
 MEDIALOUNGE
 11am
 A lecture/performance of i-BPE (iBiology Patent Engine)
 by artists Diane Ludin and Ricardo Dominguez.
 (ibiology.net)
 --

 ACTS_communication in evolution

 What is the function of communication in the origin and evolution of life?
What
 is the relationship between living, social, technological and cultural
systems?

 The international symposium ACTS_communication in evolution has been
conceived
 of as a network of conversations. Its aim is to explore the patterns and
 processes that govern the evolutionof communication in terms of codes,
 language, technology and social dynamics. In order to do this, a group of
 specialists from many different fields, including biology, geology,
 neuroscience, sociology, communications, linguistics, art and law has been
 brought together. The contents have been structured around a series of
issues
 that connect the bio-geophysical bases of communication with the evolution
of
 language and sociability. It will also look into the social transformations
 produced by current communications technologies. It will conclude with a
debate
 on the relationship between the free circulation of information and the
 evolution of knowledge and life.

 Programme
 Conde Duque Cultural Centre

 Wednesday, 19 JANUARY 05

 AFTERNOON

 The bio-geophysical bases of communication

 Evolution is what connects life through time and it has always been, and
 continues to be,possible by means of a system of signals that are received
and
transmitted to the entire universe. Micro-organisms were the only
inhabitants
of the planet for 85% of the 4,000 million years of the history of life on
earth.

 This means that they established chemical, physical, metabolic and
communicative
 bases in a medium subject to geophysical forces. As the inventors of all
 metabolic strategies, they established systems of communication subject to
 trial and error, discarding, in a Darwinian manner, those that were
 unsuccessful. Their strategies were generally effective, but sometimes
errors
 occurred. A metabolic error, the production of that lethal gas that we call
 oxygen, gave rise to aerobic life as we know it; and a strategic error,
 endosymbiosis, gave rise to the eukaryotic cells of which we are made up.

 Nowadays, with the growth in new technologies, the word communication has
become
 omnipresent. Nevertheless, its meaning appears to be tied to the verbal and
the
 visual, and it is always used in relation to human life. In this debate, we
 wish to reflect on and discuss the evolution, function and current state of
 communication in a broader sense. This discourse leads us from the
transmission
 of information in the origins of life and its first organic forms, through
the
 various periods of evolution, to present-day techno-digitalised
civilisation.


 Moderator: Ricardo Guerrero (University of Barcelona)
 Speakers:
 Ramón Guardans, Spain (Soundplots)
 John Hall, USA (University of Massachussetts)
 Lynn Margulis, USA (University of Massachussetts)
 Andrés Moya, Spain (Instituto Cavanilles, University of Valencia)
 Juli Peretó, Spain (Instituto Cavanilles, University of Valencia)
 Alfonso Valencia, Spain (CBM-Autonomous University of Madrid)
 Peter Westbroek, Holland (University of Leyden)

 Thursday, 20 JANUARY 05

 AFTERNOON

 Relationships between the evolution of language and sociability

         This encounter explores the relationship of continuity between the
biological
 bases of language and its social functions. It takes a look at the
biological
 foundations of its organisation and history in the search for models that
will
 allow us to understand the origin and evolution of the synergy between
 language, awareness, learning and social dynamics. To what extent does
social
 communication contribute to human evolution? How do our minds and language
 co-evolve?

         We shall examine the evolution of language as a dynamic system
shaped
by the
 action of signals and their associated meanings. We shall study the
 consequences of interaction between the elements that constitute human
beings
 (molecules, cells, organisms) in the evolution of human relationships,
culture
 and the human mind itself. What is the role of communication in the
processes
 that shape organic evolution? Is communication an open system? Is
communication
 subject to inevitable errors? Why is communication open to lies?

 Moderators: Angela Delgado and Luisa Martín Rojo (Autonomous University of
 Madrid)
 Speakers:
 John Skoyles, United Kingdom (London School of Economics)
 Michael Tomasello, USA (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)
 Neil Thompson, United Kingdom (Avenue Consulting Ltd.)
 Jef Verschueren, Belgium (International Pragmatics Assistant Research
Center,
 University of Antwerp, Belgium)

 Friday, 21 JANUARY 05

 MORNING

 Technological and sociocultural transformation

 The increase in the quantity of information metabolised by social systems,
as
 well as the modification of the nature and procedures for obtaining and
 processing this information, would appearto be some of the keys to the
social
 transformations of the last decade. They have acquired a centralrole in the
 shaping of a new economy and a new culture. Thus the continuing development
of
 the information and communications technologies (ICTs) may prove to be the
 decisive factor that makes possible a structural change at the heart of
 capitalism, characterised by an "industrial" intensification of the
production
 of knowledge.

         A system of communication is the basis of social organisation.
 Consequently, changes in ICTs directly affect social relationships. This
 encounter will evaluate these transformations and concentrate on the
 organisational dimension of the modification of communications systems.
This is
 how

 technological change affects our experiences, facilitates new means of
awareness
 and conditions the principal exchanges between both: the social frameworks
and
 articulations, the organisational networks, the inter-relationships of the
 communication ecosystem.  Exchanges established by means of languages and
 within mediums in which the class or the group blend in with electorates,
 thematic networks and audiences. Each with their own use of symbols and
 characteristic methods of reception.

 Moderator: Joan Manuel Tresserras i Gaju (Autonomous University of
Barcelona)
 Speakers:
 Manuel Castells, Spain (University of California, Berkeley)
 Javier Echeverría, Spain (University of the Basque Country)
 Derrick De Kerckhove, Canada (McLuhan Program in Information Studies at the
 University ofToronto)
 Ingrid Volkmer, Austria (University of Otago/New Zealand and Universiteit
van
 Amsterdam, Netherlands)

 AFTERNOON

 The ownership of knowledge and of life From the earliest bacterial
 conversations carried out in chemical language, to the social
transformations
 produced by access to ICTs, the flows and exchanges of signals and
information
 have encouraged the dynamics of the evolution of life and knowledge.
However,
 since the first law of copyright was passed in 1710, legislative
institutions
 have sought to regulate these flows and exchanges of information.

         The digital era and the appearance of Internet are transforming the
traditional
 systems of information control and their means of protection.
Paradoxically, in
 the so-called era of information and knowledge, we find ourselves facing an
 increase in legal restrictions, inconsistent
 with the very evolution of technology, knowledge and life. The figure of
the
 author, together with the concept of intellectual property and patents,
will be
 the subjects of  a transversal debate that examines the various
 means of production and circulation of knowledge: between copyright and
 copyleft, from top manta to genomics; and from seeds to software.

 Moderator: José Cervera (Autonomous University of Madrid)
 Speakers:
 Vandana Shiva (founder, Research Foundation for Science, Technology and
Natural
Resource Policy)
 José Luis Brea, Spain (University of Castilla-La Mancha))
 Lawrence Lessig/Creative Commons, EEUU (Stanford University)
 Ricardo Domínguez, USA (ibiology.net)


 21.00 Performance Transpermia
 Marcel-lí Antúnez (Spain)
 Auditorium

http://www.medialabmadrid.org/medialab/



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