Wetware
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- For the Rudy Rucker novel, see Wetware (novel)
The term Wetware is used to describe the integration of the concepts of the physical construct known as the central nervous system (CNS) and the mental construct known as the human mind. It is a two part abstraction drawn from the computer related idea of hardware or software.
The first abstraction solely concerns the bioelectric and biochemical properties of the CNS, specifically the brain. If the impulses traveling the various neurons are analogized as software, then the physical neurons would be the hardware. The amalgamated interaction of the software and hardware manifest through continuously changing physical connections, and chemical and electrical influences spreading across wide spectrums of supposedly unrelated areas. This interaction requires a new term that exceeds the definition of those individual terms.
The second abstraction is relegated to a higher conceptual level. If the human mind is analogized as software, then the first abstraction described above is the hardware. The process by which the mind and brain interact to produce the collection of experiences that we define as self-awareness is still seriously in question. Importantly, the intricate interaction between physical and mental realms is observable in many instances. The combination of these concepts are expressed in the term wetware.
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[edit] Origin
An early reference to the term is in the novels of Rudy Rucker, one of which he so titled “Wetware”. "... all sparks and tastes and tangles, all its stimulus/response patterns – the whole biocybernetic software of mind."
"Wetware has 7 plus or minus 2 temporary registers." The numerical allusion is to a classic 1957 article by George A. Miller, "The magical number 7 plus or minus two: some limits in our capacity for processing information", published in Psychological Review, pages 63-97.
Another early use of the term, pre-dating Rucker's novel "Wetware", is in the 1987 novel "Vacuum Flowers" by Michael Swanwick.
[edit] Alternative Definitions
[edit] Computer Jargon Usage
The term Wetware is used in conversation, notably USENET and in hacker culture. Also known as liveware, meatware or the abbreviation PEBKAC (Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair), is a term generally used to refer to a person operating a computer. It refers to human beings (programmers, operators, administrators) attached to a computer system. In this context the term is often intended for humorous effect; for example, in the frequently wry humor of technical support staff, a wetware-related problem is a euphemism for user error.
[edit] Science Fiction Usage
An alternative definition of Wetware, common in many contemporary science fiction novels (Peter F. Hamilton's neural nanonics and wetware, Richard K. Morgan's wetwire and the second novel, Wetware, in Rudy Rucker's Ware Tetralogy), is used to describe cybernetic augmentation to human beings. The general theory is that the brain would have a cybernetic interface to electronic components capable of controlling the body. Such cybernetic implants could control everything from muscle movement, making a person super-fast or super-strong (as in the case of Morgan's books), or to provide a direct connection to external computer processing through wetwired connections in the skin. There are clear examples of wetware devices in the novels of William Gibson, certain individuals use a cyberdeck to jack on to a brain implant which provides them with sensorial connection to virtual cyberspace. Adam Warren also uses the term Wetware in his American Manga comic series The Dirty Pair, where by characters fitted with Interface sockets in 3 locations on the Neck, can 'Jack-in' to computers, hardware and Simulation networks, with Sim-Net and Yip-Man being two of which. The term "wetware" was also used in I, Robot (2004) during a dialogue between Detective Spooner (Will Smith) and Doctor Calvin (Bridget Moynahan). The dialogue: SPOONER: "So, Dr. Calvin. What exactly do you do around here?" CALVIN: "My general fields are advanced robotics and psychiatry, although, I specialize in hardware to wetware interfaces in an effort to advance USR's robotic anthropomorphization program."
