Difference between revisions of "Holotopia"

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<p>You are about to board a bus for a long night ride, when you notice two flimsy, flickering streaks of light emanating from two wax candles, placed in the circular holes where the headlights of bus are meant to be. Candles? As <em>headlights</em>? You rub your eyes in disbelief. What sort of nonsense is this? A weird joke? An art project?</p>  
 
<p>You are about to board a bus for a long night ride, when you notice two flimsy, flickering streaks of light emanating from two wax candles, placed in the circular holes where the headlights of bus are meant to be. Candles? As <em>headlights</em>? You rub your eyes in disbelief. What sort of nonsense is this? A weird joke? An art project?</p>  
<p>Well of course, the idea of candles as headlights is absurd. So why talk about it? The reason is that <em>on a much larger scale</em>, where the the things such as our society and the way it handles information are so large that we cannot see them with naked eye—this absurdity has become reality.</p>  
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<p>Well of course, the idea of candles as headlights is absurd. So why talk about it? The reason is that <em>on a much larger scale</em>—where the the things such as our society, and the way we handle information, are so large that we cannot see them with naked eye—this absurdity has become reality.</p>  
 
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<small>Our handling of information must be changed.</small>  
 
<small>Our handling of information must be changed.</small>  
 
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<div class="col-md-3"><h3>Our proposal</h3></div>
 
<div class="col-md-3"><h3>Our proposal</h3></div>
 
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<p>The crux of our <em>knowledge federation</em> proposal
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<p>
is to change the relationship we (as culture, and as people) have  
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<blockquote>The crux of our <em>knowledge federation</em> proposal, which is detailed on this website,
with information; and with knowledge.
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is to change the relationship we have with information; and with knowledge.
And by doing that, change the relationship we have  
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And by doing that, to change the relationship we have  
with the world; and with ourselves.</p>
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with the world; and with ourselves.
<p>What is the relationship we have with information presently like? Well, there hardly <em>is</em> any. As <em>Neil Postman</em> observed,</p>  
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</blockquote></p>
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<p>What is our handling of information presently like? Here is how <em>Neil Postman</em> described it:</p>  
 
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<blockquote>  
 
"The tie between information and action has been severed. Information is now a commodity that can be bought and sold, or used as a form of entertainment, or worn like a garment to enhance one's status. It comes indiscriminately, directed at no one in particular, disconnected from usefulness; we are glutted with information, drowning in information, have no control over it, don't know what to do with it."
 
"The tie between information and action has been severed. Information is now a commodity that can be bought and sold, or used as a form of entertainment, or worn like a garment to enhance one's status. It comes indiscriminately, directed at no one in particular, disconnected from usefulness; we are glutted with information, drowning in information, have no control over it, don't know what to do with it."
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</div><div class="col-md-3 round-images">[[File:Postman.jpg]]<br><small><center>Neil Postman</center></small></div>
 
</div><div class="col-md-3 round-images">[[File:Postman.jpg]]<br><small><center>Neil Postman</center></small></div>
 
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<p>Suppose we handled information as we tend to handle other human-made thing—by suiting it to the purposes that need to be served. What would our information be like? By what methods, in what ways and by whom would it be created? How would information be used? What new information formats, what new <em>kinds</em> of information would emerge? How would the information technology be adapted and applied? In what way would our public informing be different? Or academic communication, or education?
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<blockquote>The <em>substance</em> of our <em>knowledge federation</em> proposal is a complete and academically coherent answer to those and other related questions; an answer that are not only described and explained, but also implemented—as a collection of real-life embedded <em>prototypes</em>.
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</blockquote></p>
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<div class="col-md-3"><h3>Seeing things whole</h3></div>
 
<div class="col-md-3"><h3>Seeing things whole</h3></div>
 
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<p>So suppose this absurd situation ended, and we handled information as we handle other human-made thing—by suiting it to the  purposes that need to be served. What would our information be like? By what methods, in what ways and by whom would it be created? How would information be used? What new information formats, what new <em>kinds</em> of information would emerge? How would the information technology be adapted and applied? In what way would our public informing be different? Or academic communication, or education?</p>
 
<p>The <em>substance</em> of our <em>knowledge federation</em> proposal is a complete and academically coherent answer to those and other related questions; answers that are not only described and explained, but also implemented—as a collection of real-life embedded <em>prototypes</em>.</p>
 
 
<p>We here refer to the proposed approach to knowledge by its pseudonym [[Holotopia: Holoscope|<em>holoscope</em>]], to highlight one of its distinguishing characteristic: It helps us see things whole. </p>
 
<p>We here refer to the proposed approach to knowledge by its pseudonym [[Holotopia: Holoscope|<em>holoscope</em>]], to highlight one of its distinguishing characteristic: It helps us see things whole. </p>
 
[[File:Perspective-S.jpg]]
 
[[File:Perspective-S.jpg]]

Revision as of 09:08, 1 April 2020

Imagine...

You are about to board a bus for a long night ride, when you notice two flimsy, flickering streaks of light emanating from two wax candles, placed in the circular holes where the headlights of bus are meant to be. Candles? As headlights? You rub your eyes in disbelief. What sort of nonsense is this? A weird joke? An art project?

Well of course, the idea of candles as headlights is absurd. So why talk about it? The reason is that on a much larger scale—where the the things such as our society, and the way we handle information, are so large that we cannot see them with naked eye—this absurdity has become reality.

Modernity2.jpg Our handling of information must be changed.

Our proposal

The crux of our knowledge federation proposal, which is detailed on this website,

is to change the relationship we have with information; and with knowledge. And by doing that, to change the relationship we have with the world; and with ourselves.

What is our handling of information presently like? Here is how Neil Postman described it:

"The tie between information and action has been severed. Information is now a commodity that can be bought and sold, or used as a form of entertainment, or worn like a garment to enhance one's status. It comes indiscriminately, directed at no one in particular, disconnected from usefulness; we are glutted with information, drowning in information, have no control over it, don't know what to do with it."

Postman.jpg
Neil Postman

Suppose we handled information as we tend to handle other human-made thing—by suiting it to the purposes that need to be served. What would our information be like? By what methods, in what ways and by whom would it be created? How would information be used? What new information formats, what new kinds of information would emerge? How would the information technology be adapted and applied? In what way would our public informing be different? Or academic communication, or education?

The substance of our knowledge federation proposal is a complete and academically coherent answer to those and other related questions; an answer that are not only described and explained, but also implemented—as a collection of real-life embedded prototypes.