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(Margaret Mead, Continuities in Cultural Evolution, 1964)

I am proposing to correct an error.

Which is buried deep in our culture's foundation; and forgotten in its distant history. Reported problems and error—including discontinuities in cultural evolution, and non-sustainability of global trends—need to be seen and comprehended as consequences of this single fundamental one. In what follows I'll share a carefully developed plan to correct this error, which is already in implementation; and I'll invite you to join me in bringing it to fruition.

I propose to institute a transdiscipline.

Which is a new kind of institution. And I make this proposal concrete by offering knowledge federation as a complete prototype of the transdiscipline; which is now ready to be examined, instituted and put to use. When I'll want to point to the different way of seeing that knowledge federation makes possible—that it enables us to see things whole—I'll call it by its nickname holoscope.

The knowledge federation proposal does include a realizable vision of a better future, and a way to implement it; which is called holotopia; which is offered as the holoscope's proof-of-concept application. The gist of this case for transdisciplinarity I am presenting is that it is necessary for academic or fundamental reasons; and that once an erroneous way to see the world has been corrected—a radically better way to evolve, culturally and socially, will be seen and followed. Which I can now condense into this simple formula:

The holoscope begets holotopia.

When we see the world (not through the telescope or the microscope, but) through the holoscope—a way to radically improve the human condition, and our civilization's future prospects, becomes transparent; and ready to be followed.

This website is intended to complement my book called Liberation, which will soon appear in print. In the book I'll present a wealth of evidence, by telling entertaining short stories called vignettes. Here I want to share knowledge federation's academic essence; not by spelling out the details, but by pointing to its overall structure—and letting you fill in the details, by browsing through the book; and by participating in the public dialog the Libetion book will ignite.

In the book I call myself an "academic fundamentalist", with tongue in cheek. The fact of this matter is that I've been trained as a theoretical scientist and a mathematician. I am highlighting this because—in contrast with my informal and sketchy way of speaking—it is only when you see that there is nothing hypothetical in what I'm saying, that it's all conceived like mathematical axioms and theorems—that you'll have understood me correctly. Indeed, all of knowledge federation follows from this simple axiom:

Knowledge must be federated.

Which is not even an axiom in the usual sense of this word—it is not assumed to be self-evident—but conceived as a convention of language; and as part of my definition of knowledge, and of knowledge federation. What it means is that we can only say that something is known, and call it knowledge, if it's supported by evidence; if it resulted from a concerted effort to find and consult all relevant evidence; and also, and importantly—if it's reflected in everyday awareness and action.

Knowledge federation is the result of work of many excellent people.

The reason I am speaking to you as I do, in first person, is to allow myself to be controversial; and to be personally accountable for what I'm about to say; and importantly, because I want this to be an outcry.

Historical appeals to institute transdisciplinarity remained futile.

With stupefying consistency they remained ignored! And when we took over the torch—or as the case may be, this large boulder and began rolling it uphill—the same dynamic reproduced itself. And made it clear that our very first challenge—is to break the spell of the academic and other business as usual. Which is why I began this proposal as I did—by placing it in the context of our overall human and cultural situation at the turn of the millennium; and thereby highlighting that we must be resolute in recreating the business as usual; because we have no more time to waste.

In the remainder of this website I'll let knowledge federation introduce itself academically in its own manners of speaking; and in that way illustrate some of its techniques.

• In Federation through Ideograms I'll render the gist of this proposal in terms of four simple metaphorical images
• In Federation through Keywords I'll let you comprehend it more precisely, by highlighting and discussing some of its custom-defined words
• In Federation through Prototypes I'll explain, by outlining a few examples, how exactly knowledge federation undertakes to make the sort of difference that now has to be made
• Iin Federation through Action I'll explain the two steps that remain; which I'll invite you to take together.

Dino Karabeg