Your friendship networks

The 10th part of the book “network Logic” is called “your friendship networks”. The main concept which this part covers is how and by whom our friendship networks are affected. Generally the opus tells about governmental influence. Whole concept is based on the assumption that services we use, goods we buy shape our friendship networks. In other words government shapes our friendship networks,  since all services and goods are either provided or regulated by government.

The author of the opus, Dr Perry,  describes four main institutional forms of social organization : isolate, individualism, hierarchy,enclave. Services which make people with common interests and lifestyle constantly meet each other leads to social integration (hierarchy, enclave social organisation) and vice versa.

 

One of my networks

Black&brown is a chain of cafeterias in Almaty. I will use a cafeteria of this chain, the one which is located in the territory of KIMEP as an example of network I am part of. For me that is a place I can eat, drink coffee, chat with friends, play chess, do homework, browse internet. Those all are my everyday needs. It is pretty hard to tell whether I like this particular place because it satisfy my need, or I have those needs because I like that place.

Anyway, as time passed by,  if I ever had a brake, I went there.  I always ordered the same thing. But then B&B stopped to serve it for some reason.  I realized how much I get used to one scheme of actions. It was hard to switch. Day by day more and more options I was normally using were not available. Well… everything changes.

I still don’t understand what made this cafeteria so meaningful to me, there dozens of them around the city. Somehow I felt as a part of B&B. I never exchanged a word with other regular visitors. I never payed attention if I notice them somewhere outside B&B. All I knew, I would miss seeing them and overhearing their conversation during my lunchtime.

I rarely go to B&B now. Many things happened but I still think that there were something special. There were some unseen connection between all of us.

Now laugh if you want) I knew it was bad example…

My thoughts about Network Logic

The question of self identification is very crucial. Water bacteria doesn’t want to disslove and individual doesn’t. We exist through separation from collective unconsience, from our mother, from our families, from any communities we belong to. And nothing unites us more then constant willing to differentiate ourselves. Because we separate to interact with each other, to live as a whole.

Even though the material and immaterial boundaries enable the exchange process, they eclipse the initial meaning of their selves. People get wrapped up by the routine. We are obsessed with building up our own personalities and fail to see the whole picture.

I remember myself 14-16 years old. I was too concentrated on my own personality and never thought of importance of the rest of the world. I never thought that my existence as absolutely single individual has no sense. I was afraid to admit it. Because I thought  if I do, if I say that I am the part of such huge organism, it will make me so insignificant. But it didn’t.