Rhetorical Ontologies of Code
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Rhetorical Ontologies of CodeKevin Brock
University of South [email protected] / @brockoleur
http://www.brockoleur.com
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Object-Oriented Rhetoric• Barnett: is rhetoric a ‘human art’ ? (2010, n.p.)• Brown: ‘attitudinal worlds’ constructed by ‘all
relations’ between humans & objects (2012, n.p.)
Kevin Brock / University of South Carolina / [email protected] / @brockoleur
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Network / Software Theory• Galloway & Thacker: protocol as a way to
understand ‘tendencies’ of network agents to operate via interrelations (2007, p. 28)
• Protocol, as method of control & influence to facilitate particular relations, must be inherently rhetorical
Kevin Brock / University of South Carolina / [email protected] / @brockoleur
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Ken Thompson’s C Compiler Hack• Thompson: code is inherently untrustworthy
as one cannot, or will not, create all of his or her code (1984, p. 763)
• Thompson supports this claim by hacking the C compiler (a program to turn source code into executable files)
Kevin Brock / University of South Carolina / [email protected] / @brockoleur
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The C Compiler Hack...c = next( );if(c != '\\') return(c);c = next( );if(c == '\\') return('\\');if(c == 'n') return('\n');if(c == 'v') return('\v');...
(Thompson, Figure 2.2)
...c = next( );if(c != '\\') return(c);c = next( );if(c == '\\') return('\\');if(c == 'n') return('\n');if(c == 'v') return(11);...
(Thompson, Figure 2.3)
compile(s)char *s;{ if(match(s, "pattern1")) { compile("bug1"); return; } if(match(s, "pattern2")) { compile("bug2"); return; } ...}
(Thompson, Figure 3.3)
Kevin Brock / University of South Carolina / [email protected] / @brockoleur
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The C Compiler Hack
Kevin Brock / University of South Carolina / [email protected] / @brockoleur
Clean Compiler
Clean Code
Clean Executable
Clean Compiler
Unclean Code
Infected Executable
Infected Compiler
Clean Code
‘Clean’ Executable
‘Clean’ Compiler
Clean Code
‘Clean’ Executable
(processing code normally before Thompson’s hack is implemented)
(inserting Thompson’s Trojan Horse)
(incorporating the infected compiler into the normal process)
(replacing the infected compiler with a clean-source compiler)
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Who or What Has Agency Here?• Latour: technology is ‘an interchange between
what humans inscribe in it and what it prescribes to them’ (1996, p. 213)
• Being emerges from rhetorical activity for Trojan Horse author, code languages, physical computer, electrical flows/digitizations, etc.
Kevin Brock / University of South Carolina / [email protected] / @brockoleur
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DNA (Codon) Reprogramming• Lajoie et al. reprogram three-nucleotide
sequences (codons) to facilitate new types of chemical reactions between amino acids & proteins (2013)
• Potential applications include new adhesives, medications, disease-resistant foods
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Codon Reprogramming
Lajoie et al. (2013, Figure 1)
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Chemical Programming with DNA• Chen et al. construct a new programming
language for consensus-based calculation using ‘complex signal processing’ from biological & chemical inputs (2013, p. 755)
Kevin Brock / University of South Carolina / [email protected] / @brockoleur
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Chemical Programming
X = majority species signalY = minority species signalB = buffer signal
Solid lines = consensus resultsDashed lines = anticipated (computed) results
Chen et al. (2013, from Figure 5)Kevin Brock / University of South Carolina / [email protected] / @brockoleur
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Agency in DNA Programming• Rhetorical agency and being exist in DNA
nucleotides, protocols of combination, chemical reaction responses, generated proteins, human researchers, modified organic and inorganic entities
Kevin Brock / University of South Carolina / [email protected] / @brockoleur
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Programmatic Persuasion• Code, biological and technological, serves to
‘program’ (rhetorically persuade) agents to act– Facilitating novel means of invention in response to
emerging situations / contexts
• How can we recognize this rhetorical activity as it takes place in numerous iterations daily?
Kevin Brock / University of South Carolina / [email protected] / @brockoleur
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Works Cited• Barnett, Scot. “Toward an Object-Oriented Rhetoric.” Enculturation 7 (2010). Web.
http://enculturation.gmu.edu/toward-an-object-oriented-rhetoric• Brown, James J. “Paul Cret and the Decorum of Objects.” Clinamen: Thuswise to Serve. 28 May 2012. Web.
http://clinamen.jamesjbrownjr.net/2012/05/28/paul-cret-and-the-decorum-of-objects/• Burke, Kenneth. A Rhetoric of Motives. Berkeley: U of California Press. 1969. Print.• Chen, Yuan-Jyue et al. “Programmable Chemical Controllers Made from DNA.” Nature Nanotechnology 8
(29 Sept. 2013): 755-762. Print.• Galloway, Alexander R. and Eugene Thacker. The Exploit: A Theory of Networks. Minneapolis: U of
Minnesota Press, 2007. Print.• Geddes, Linda. “Reprogrammed Bacterium Speaks New Language of Life.” New Scientist (17 Oct. 2013). Web.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24427-reprogrammed-bacterium-speaks-new-language-of-life.html• Lajoie, Marc J. et al. “Genomically Recoded Organisms Expand Biological Functions.” Science 342 (2013): 357-360.
Print.• Latour, Bruno. Aramis, or the Love of Technology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1996. Print.• Thompson, Ken. “Reflections on Trusting Trust.” Communications of the ACM 27.8 (1984): 761-763. Print.
Kevin Brock / University of South Carolina / [email protected] / @brockoleur