Networks, Society, and Polis: Epistemological Approaches on Mediatization

Mediatization, communication, and algorithms: a theoretical-methodological proposal... 259 the interface on the algorithms, this proposition will become well-defined. Having made this consideration, we can manifest our convergence with Verón’s hypothesis (2014) that one of the cen- tral processes of mediatization is the materialization of mental experience. Therefore, it characterizes the anthropological gen- esis of the species due to the uniqueness of this adaptive process. It is not even a matter of saying that this adaptation is superior or inferior to the semiosis of nature and other living species and animals. It is just a peculiar adaptation. This formulation allows us to think of an ontological cut line that is also epistemological: the shift from nature to so- cial semiosis. This displacement is founded by the species, by its bio-psycho-cognitive characteristics. The primary differentia- tion that is based there is the inferential capacity that is unique over other species, which have already developed and evolve the ability to materialize mental experience (ants, bees, etc.). Mediatized semiosis refers to this process in which the mate- rialization of mental experience in objects is, immediately, the basis for new individual and social inferences, a reference for in- teractions, fostering the interpretation of evidence and imagery. Thinking about the genealogy of mediatization in this perspec- tive is much complex. It is not to say that the whole mental experience can be objectified 4 . The formulation is quantum: if in our cosmos- planet and social, not everything is matter, there is a lot of non- materialized energy. Therefore, mediatization is a restricted uni- verse, even when we talk about mediatized semiosis. There is an energetic universe that, like a halo, drives us. This is difficult to access, also because it is not materialized. In addition, there is an (immense) universe of senses that are imaginary and symbolic, conscious, subconscious, and unconscious, that do not manifest materially. The fact that the reflexive (epistemological) maturation of the species has only become aware of this relationship in the contemporary, from the achievements in media such as books, 4 Here, it is relevant to highlight the reflections of João Damásio, a doctoral stu - dent, presented in a thesis seminar of the line of research on Mediatization and Social Processes at PPGCC-UNISINOS.