Algorithms Versus Hive Minds: A Premonition of Democracy's Future

From the time of its emergence onto the public scene the Internet has been understood in light of both its dystopian potential for total surveillance and control and its utopian possibilities to enable enhanced forms of freedom. This paper argues that these two potentials are deeply interconnected and that the both the field of Technoethics and long term sustainability of democracy itself requires that we understand and address the connections between our fears and hopes regarding the Infosphere.