Abstract. Social Order becomes a major problem in MAS and in computer mediated human interaction. After explaining the notions of Social Order and Social Control, I claim that there are multiple and complementary approaches to Social Order and to its engineering: all of them must be exploited. In computer science one try to solve this problem by rigid formalisation and rules, constraining infrastructures, security devices, etc. I think that a more socially oriented approach is also needed. My point is that Social Control -and in particular decentralised and autonomous Social Control -will be one of the most effective approaches.
The framework: Social Order Vs Social ControlThis is an introductory paper. I mean that I will not propose any solution to the problem of social order in engineering cybersocieties: neither theoretical solutions and even less practical solutions. I want just to contribute to circumscribe and clarify the problem, identify relevant issues and discuss some notions for a possible ontology in this domain. I take a cognitive and social perspective, however I claim that this is relevant not only for the new born computational social sciences, but for networked society and MAS. There is a dialectic relationship: on the one hand, in MAS and cybersocieties we should be inspired by human social phenomena, on the other hand, by computationally modelling social phenomena we should provide a better understanding of them. In particular I try to understand what Social Order 2 is, and to describe different approaches to and strategies for Social Order, with special attention to Social Control and its means. Since the agents (either human or artificial) are relatively autonomous, act in an open world, on the basis of their subjective and limited points of view and for their own interests or goals, Social Order is a problem. There is no possibility of application for a predetermined, "hardwired" or designed social order. Social order has to be continuously restored and adjusted, dynamically produced by and through the action of the agents themselves; this is why Social Control is necessary. There are multiple and complementary approaches to Social Order and to its engineering: all of them must be exploited. In computer science one try to solve this problem by rigid formalisation and rules, constraining infrastructures, security devices, etc. I think that a more socially oriented approach is also needed. My point is that Social Control -and in particular decentralised and autonomous Social Control -will be one of the most effective approaches.
The Big Problem: Apocalypse nowI feel that the main trouble of infosocieties, distributed computing, Agent-based paradigm, etc. will be -quite soon-that of the "social order" in the virtual or in artificial society, in the net, in MASs. Currently the problem is mainly perceived in terms of "security", and in terms of crisis, breakdowns, and traffic, but it is more general. The problem is how to obtaining from local design and programming, and from local actions, inter...