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I suppose this isn't completely a question of philosophy as I'm sure it has a right answer, but anyway:
Is webspace infinite?

I understand that webspace is available on servers, but is the number of servers that can exist finite? Is cyberspace a dimension, or is it part of our own space and time? If it is infinite, doesn't that break some of the laws of physics? And if not, where does it end?

I'm very curious. There might be a right answer, I don't know, so fire away with ideas and theories. Smile

@ItMustBeKate,

The Internet is a global network of interconnected computers. Nothing less, nothing more.

@Theaetetus,

The internet's physical structure is

Theaetetus wrote:

The Internet is a global network of interconnected computers. Nothing less, nothing more.

The internet as a human communications and information system is quickly becoming a cyborg component of those that use it. "Cyborg" is being used in it traditional sense, a mechanical/material addition to the human form and psyche that acts symbiotically, without which that human would not exist in the same form. It is intregal to our current being and non-seperable. This is evidenced among more complex way by simple words and activities like 'to google' and 'chatroom'.

Being that is has become a cybernetic component to moden humanity one might say it is as infinite as human potential. It is as infinite as human culture, human thinking, human creativity etc...

@ItMustBeKate,

"It is as infinite as human culture, human thinking, human creativity"
This is a step closer to what I was thinking, but those things don't exist in the world, you can't percieve them with the senses, where you can see things on a computer screen, and if you take a computer apart, you can see, touch its internal workings.

I'm not satisfied...

@ItMustBeKate,

You cant percieve the difference between your communication, art, language usage, media consumtion, entertainment methods etc... between you and your parents, or you and a person who has not assimilated the internet into their functional system? What I'm getting at is that the internet that has become part of your and your function is a part of the current you as much as your ability to write or cook. It is a symbiotic material culture that introduces the ability to evolve in whatever direction we end up evolving.

@GoshisDead,

GoshisDead wrote:

Being that is has become a cybernetic component to moden humanity one might say it is as infinite as human potential.

Unfortunately, many people get little use out of the Internet than porn and ridiculous conspiracy theories. The former can be potentially destructive to intimate relationships and the later feeds on peoples inability to use critical thinking skills. So while the Internet has the ability to advance human potential, it can also be a very counter-intuitive tool that limits human potential.

@ItMustBeKate,

ItMustBeKate wrote:

I suppose this isn't completely a question of philosophy as I'm sure it has a right answer, but anyway:
Is webspace infinite?

I understand that webspace is available on servers, but is the number of servers that can exist finite? Is cyberspace a dimension, or is it part of our own space and time? If it is infinite, doesn't that break some of the laws of physics? And if not, where does it end?

I'm very curious. There might be a right answer, I don't know, so fire away with ideas and theories.

It's limited only by the amount of IPv4 addresses servers can assign. Because we're running out, IPv6 was introduced to assist. So in that sense, we're in no danger of running out of server addresses.

@Theaetetus,

Theaetetus wrote:

The Internet is a global network of interconnected computers. Nothing less, nothing more.

Very true and agreed. The Internet itself COULD end considering websites and such need servers to run. Run out of servers there is no Internet. (This is what I believe, I may be wrong.) Although with networking, that is infinite considering it's looped with sending and receiving files.

@Theaetetus,

Theaetetus wrote:

The Internet is a global network of interconnected computers. Nothing less, nothing more.

Something more could be emergent from that network...

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