Recommended Reading: The Dark Net
Dichotomous zeros and ones that’s what I always felt the Internet came down to. Though there are pretty screens and widgets, in the end code is code that the computer reads as zeros and ones. But, after reading The Dark Net by Jamie Bartlett those zeros and ones aren’t different as I perceived.
The premise of the whole book is to look into the sub-cultures surrounding the hidden online world–the realms, thoughts, and ideologies surrounding and shrouded by TOR’s. 
It was interesting. It was fascinating on how this world exists and grew alongside the Internet that most people see today. The Internet can be seen as a 1, because it in essence is what the intention of connecting computers on Arpanet was for, sharing information. The dark net can be seen as the 0. The dark net is underbelly that formed as more or less as response to what was going on—an alternative starting point in the Internet of things.
From transhumanists and libertarians to pro-ana groups and the EDL, this book discussed a lot of topics about a lot of sub-cultures. Each section was a carefully crafted narrative. My favorite story involved how dissatisfaction for the status-quo coupled with some genius programmers’ lead the transactions of the dark net into the mainstream Internet via Bitcoin. Moreover, it was intriguing to see how something the 0 constructed ended up as a viable and recognized option for the 1’s. What can I say, I love history. The section on Bitcoin’s history was just fun to read.
The book, in the best way I could describe it, is a non-fiction, fiction. The stories are presented in a building narrative to explain characters and plot and motive for actions with a climax and resolution. But, every story (names changed in some cases) is about real people and real events that happened. And, how those events are either a look into a given sub-culture or led to something more far reaching, WikiLinks and Bitcoin.
As I said before, to me the Internet was always a numbers game of ones and zeros. Now, I know better. I learned on how, like with computer code, these 0’s and 1’s work together in random but calculated ways. Without the 1’s the 0’s would have no means to reach the masses. Without the 0’s the 1’s would probably reach a plateau sooner than any 1 could imagine.
It’s a weird parallel to the history of the Internet that I knew of. So, if you want to learn more about the network of interconnected computers from an alternative view, I recommend it.