网络体验实验室

Web信息系统和它们的用户社区构成了许多复杂的社会-技术系统，这些社会-技术复杂系统的复杂性不仅来自于人为的设计，还主要来自于大量用户的参与。对这些系统的动态结构及其涌现机制的研究不仅可用来辅助信息系统的开发和设计，还可以辅助统一社会科学研究。

具体可以有两大方面的研究：

1.信息系统设计相关的研究。多用户参与的万维网不再是一个无意识的复杂系统，而是一个多维意识的系统，这个多维意识系统的结构日趋复杂精致，是否会导致新型智慧的产生？换句话说通过网络紧密联结在一起的、相互协作的人们是否可能发展出一种类似于蚁群的群体智慧(全球大脑)来?

如果把全球大脑的涌现作为信息化的一个目标，我们在设计网络信息系统时是否应该遵照一些必须的统一的规则？

2.统一社会科学(United Social Science)相关的研究。社会经济活动都是嵌入在各种社会网络之中的，对在同一个社会网络中发生的各种行为从不同的视角研究形成各种社会科学的具体研究问题，如一个国家的经济结构与货币的汇率、教育发展状况和人口结构与就业的关系、高速增长房地产的与产业结构调整的关系等，这些问题都存在内在的相关性。可以通过设计一个抽象的虚拟社会来研究这些具体社会问题之间的关系。

在电子商务领域，社会的网络结构在互联网上有部分体现，如何从互联网上挖掘出有关的社会网络结构，然后对该网络进行各种相关的政策研究、行业研究和社会问题研究？也可以是统一社会科学研究的一个发展方向。

此外，还可以对文化和经济社会的关系开展虚拟社会的研究。欧洲、印度和中国的文化和国民性格的差异对社会结构乃至于政治经济活动的影响，如何在虚拟社会和统一社会科学研究中表现？

总之，我们认为信息化促进了社会分工，加强了社会经济活动、政治文化活动的内在联系和相互影响，构成了比传统社会更复杂的社会-技术系统，对于这个复杂的社会-技术系统，可以从多个层次（宏观-中观-微观）、多个角度（整体-行业，技术/设计-政策/规划）应用复杂系统研究方法来研究。

这是我们提的一点粗略的研究设想,很希望能分享欧洲、印度研究同行的经验，或能够形成一些跨文化地域的研究。

Web based IS together with their user communities composed many socio-tech complex systems. The complexity of these systems not only comes from human's design but also emerges from their participation. Study on the dynamic structure and emerging mechanism of these systems can assist the design and development of IS as well as the research on united social science.
We think some interesting researches as followed issues can be induced:
1. Researches on IS design
Can multi-minds www that have been gradually upgrading complexity introduce new form of intelligence? In other words, can swarm intelligence of people who inter-connected through web develop a global brain? Taking the global brain as one of the ultimate goals of informationalization revolution, are there some necessary principles we should follow in designing and developing web based IS?
2. United social science and the study on virtual community in web.
All of social behaviors and economic phenomena are embedded in various social networks. And special research issues come forth from diversified perspective on certain social phenomena. There is interrelationship among issues, such as between national economic structure and exchange rate, between education status, population structure and job-finding problems. We can study these issues as well as their relations through a designed abstract virtue community.
Besides, we are interested in studying the relationship among culture, economic and society in the virtue society. European, Indian and Chinese differences in culture and nationality influence their social organization, economic behavior and even politics. We are considering how to represent and research it in a virtual society under the framework of united social science.

In conclusion, informationalization accelerates the division of labor and reinforces the interaction of economic and social behaviors, so it also facilitates the formation of more complex social-tech systems. We can study it from multi-level, from micro to macro, and multi perspectives employing complex systems analysis approach.
We hope we can share experience with European and Indian colleagues. We also hope the triangular organization can inspire more cross-nation research on related complex issues.

Tom O'relly 在What's Web2.0一文中也提到了全球大脑(Global brain),以前竟然没注意到.

"If an essential part of Web 2.0 is harnessing collective intelligence, turning the web into a kind of global brain, the blogosphere is the equivalent of constant mental chatter in the forebrain, the voice we hear in all of our heads. It may not reflect the deep structure of the brain, which is often unconscious, but is instead the equivalent of conscious thought. And as a reflection of conscious thought and attention, the blogosphere has begun to have a powerful effect."

而我则在2005年3月在和法国系统学界交流探讨会上,就提出社会性软件将会导致全球智慧的形成,引起对方强烈的兴趣.