Presentation from a talk given via videoconference at the TEDx 2010 conference in Warwick, UK.

5. Cat

6. Mammal Cat

7. Animal Mammal Cat

8. Animal Mammal Cat Tabby cat

9. Animal Mammal Cat Tabby cat Brown mackerel tabby domestic longhair

10. Animal Mammal Cat Tabby cat Brown mackerel tabby domestic longhair See also: Pets

11. Animalia Chordata Mammalia Carnivora Felidae Felis Catus Felis catus (“Cat”) Kingdom: Phylum: Class: Order: Family: Genus: Species:

13. Laptop

14. Personal computer Laptop

15. Computer Personal computer Laptop

16. Computer Personal computer Laptop Apple laptop

17. Computer Personal computer Laptop Apple laptop Apple Macbook Pro

18. Computer Personal computer Laptop Apple laptop Apple Macbook Pro See also: Mobile devices

19. Source: Berlin Name Description Example 1 Unique Beginner Highest level of inclusion Animals 2 Life Form First order of division, always “polytopic” Mammals 3 Generic Psychologically primary Cat 4 Specific Secondary name, usually involving a qualifier Tabby cat 5 Varietal Most granular level of description Brown mackerel tabby domestic longhair 6 “ Affiliate” class Horizontal or “meta” category Pets

24. “ When gods are considered, genealogy becomes a means of understanding the cosmos. When mortals are considered, it becomes an encyclopedic framework.” - Hobart and Schiffman

25. The Ice Age Information Explosion

29. The Age of Alphabets

34. cf. Ong Orality Literacy Additive Subordinative Aggregative Analytic Participatory Objective Situational Abstract

35. The Codex

40. Gutenberg

44. The Industrial Information Explosion

49. The Post-Industrial Network

57. Conclusions

59. Questions?