Is it possible to build in some randomness or chaos into an information system?
Biz Stone, a Twitter co-founder, wrote to the Twitterati, 'Repositioning the product to focus more on discovery is an important first step in presenting Twitter to a wider audience of folks around the world who are eager to start engaging with new people, ideas, opinions, events and sources of information.'
Interesting observation that the digital world hides so many things that were formerly visible, a person's music collection, choices of movies, even now, I suppose, books. Now, we reveal things about ourselves on our Facebook pages, or through the random pictures of us others might post.
But note, randomness has to be anarchic and disorderly. Serendipity, is really the wrong word. The word was coined by Horace Walpole (in 1754) according to the Wikipedia. Walpole gives an example definition:
One of the most remarkable instances of this accidental sagacity (for you must observe that no discovery of a thing you are looking for, comes under this description) was of my Lord Shaftsbury, who happening to dine at Lord Chancellor Clarendon's, found out the marriage of the Duke of York and Mrs. Hyde, by the respect with which her mother treated her at table.
"Accidental sagacity" is not how we would define the term today. Walpole's example shows what we would more likely call deduction, putting together clues to find out something that one would otherwise not have known. It shows simply a discovery, suddenly understanding something, but it is not necessarily a fortunate or happy discovery, the most important element of our current definition.
The idea of the accidental encounter contains the possibility of the happy chance discovery, but also of the unhappy or unpleasant discovery. And, in any system to do what Biz Stone wants to do, viz. engaging with new people, ideas, opinions, &c, the happy is only just a part of it.
