In 1991 author Hakim Bey, aka Peter Lamborn Wilson, wrote the book Temporary Autonomous Zone. The book is a book that explores what the web or Internet is like on the inside. Bey believes that the Internet is the upcoming frontier of this century and centuries to come. The author argues that as humans we cannot control our need to leave nothing undiscovered, but to turn over every rock and solve every single mystery. This essay programs an image of what may inhabit this strange new frontier by describing the places that make up the settled parts of the Internet, which are called “Pirate Utopias”. These utopias are mini societies that are not under the reaches of law or government, but are societies that depend on pillaging others. Bey also explores the idea of space inside of the Internet. The argument that he makes is that topographically space cannot be translated 1:1 into the Internet from the real world, but that the space can be larger or smaller (from what I think I understand). Bey goes on to talk about how the Internet is used for different purposes, some good others not, and how the Internet may be the only place in which anarchy can survive. To be honest I didn’t understand much of this, but from what I did understand cyberspace is a very complex, unexplored area that no person has ever really seen so any interpretation can be correct or become correct in the future as we delve further into this amorphous space we call the Internet. But really, what is up with the turnips?
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