N-ideograms
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Federation through Ideograms
According to dictionary definition, an ideogram is a picture that represents an idea; but in knowledge federation, the ideograms are a lot more than that; they stand for its ability to abstract—and condense "one thousand words" into a simple message; and for the power of new media technology—still so flagrantly misused—to immerse us in impressions and speak directly to our emotions and our unconscious mind; and for the power of the arts to give us imagery that bring us into a new era; as the words of Michelangelo and Botticelli did in the last great cultural revival. The ideograms we have are only a placeholder—for a variety of techniques that will be developed; their aim is no more than point to a direction.
Modernity ideogram
In One Hundred Pages for the Future, in 1981, based on a decade of The Club of Rome’s research into the future prospects of mankind, Aurelio Peccei—this global think tank’s leader and co-founder—concluded: “It is absolutely necessary to find a way to change course.”
The knowledge federation transdiscipline is a prototype of suitable new 'headlights'.
It's an undertaking to do exactly what is needed to empower us the people to change course.
In his 1969 MIT report and call to action—to institute academic transdisciplinarity—Erich Jantsch quoted Norbert Wiener, the iconic progenitor of cybernetics: “There is only one quality more important than ‘know-how’…… This is ‘know-what’ by which we determine not only how to accomplish our purposes, but what our purposes are to be.” Academic discipline cannot provide us know-what; and the media informing, such as it is, won't do it either. The system that empowers us to use the mind to seek knowledge, the information that liberates us from conditioning and belief and illuminates the course, must combine disciplinary and other evidence; it must transcend academic and cultural fragmentation; it must communicate to the public with the authority of science—in ways that are far beyond the modalities of reaching out that sciences have been able to manifest.
The Modernity ideogram also points to the fundamental change that knowledge federation stands for: To consider information as human-made thing for human purposes; notably as the core element of human society and other systems; and adapting it to the purposes that must be served; so that our systems—including our society—can be functional or "sustainable" or </b></em>whole</b></em>.
Knowledge Federation ideogram
"The Matrix is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth", Morpheus told Neo, introducing him to the dystopian vision of The Matrix; which allegorized our own world and situation, as it has become—where we try to comprehend the increasingly complex and breathtakingly fast-moving world in terms of an endless flow of images that depict it directly; and dazzle us by their very size. Long before the radio, the TV, the passenger jet, the cellular phone and the Internet, Nietzsche warned: "The [...] impressions erase each other; one instinctively resists taking in anything, taking anything deeply, to ‘digest’ anything; a weakening of the power to digest results from this. A kind of adaptation to this flood of impressions takes place: men unlearn spontaneous action, they merely react to stimuli from outside."
The Knowledge Federation ideogram shows "the real world" or the realm of experience on the left and the world of information or the realm of ideas on the right, joined by a bridge; and invites us to create the realm of ideas by simplifying and abstracting.
Science gave us "the Newton's laws"; and empowered us to comprehend the natural world by a handful of simple and precise insights and principles. The aim of knowledge federation is to extend science into all walks of life; so that we can take any theme or question from the realm of experience over the metaphorical bridge to the realm of ideas—and theorize it and comprehend it; and then bring the resulting insights back over the bridge and act in an informed way.
The mountain in the back stands for the knowledge federation's capability to abstract further—and elevate us high above "the world"; by condensing a myriad academic articles and other cultural artifacts and data to simple insights; and bringing us to the metaphorical mountain top from which we can clearly rise above the 'trees' and see directions; see where the roads are leading to and which one must be followed.
Holotopia ideogram
The Holotopia ideogram shows that when we judiciously choose a handful of pivotal themes or categories ("pivotal" because they determine our society's evolutionary direction) and apply to them knowledge federation—we'll comprehend them and handle them completely differently than we do. And that when we elevate ourselves above "the world" by thinking in terms of basic insights and principles—we'll have a way to comprehend all other themes in completely different ways.
We'll then be able to even reach out to the stars—by creating prototypes; and organizing them into 'constellations'; and not only see a better future—but be able to create it too!