Review Guide for the Midterm
STS Summer 2001
These are not meant to cover everything,
but they cover many of the main ideas.
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What is the difference between the Internet
and the World Wide Web? Which came first?
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What is meant by "packet switching" and
why is it important?
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What are some of the "killer aps" that
made the home computer a mass phenomenon?
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What is a GUI? How does it differ
from a "command line interface"?
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What does it mean to consider the Earth
as a living being? What characteristics of a living being does it
have?
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What are the key differences between the
"deterministic" and the "chaotic" models of the Universe?
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What is meant by an "attractor"?
What are some examples?
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Why are computers important to the study
of chaotic systems?
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What did Pythagoras mean by the "Divinity
of Numbers"?
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What are some of the archetypal characteristics
of the numbers zero, one, two, three and four.
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What modern ideas were anticipated by Charles
Saunders Peirce?
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What was Peirce's model of mind?
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How does the Webmind software attempt to
parallel the organization of the brain?
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What is meant by evolution and autopoiesis?
What does it mean to say that these are attractors of complex or chaotic
systems?
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What is meant by "networking" (or "heterarchy")
and "hierarchy" as principles of organization. Why is each important?