Difference between revisions of "Holotopia"
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<p>The Information <em>ideogram</em> points to the structure that information now needs to have—which is an adaptation of an award-winning idea how computer programs need to be structured, called "object orientation". The idea is that the details need to be hidden (within the 'square'), so that only a requisite function may be offered (as the 'circle') to the next larger whole. This idea can easily be understood if one thinks of the automobile, where the details (the engine, the electrical circuitry...) are hidden under the hub, so that only what is needed for operating the vehicle (the steering wheel, the instruments...) is offered and made visible to the driver.</p> | <p>The Information <em>ideogram</em> points to the structure that information now needs to have—which is an adaptation of an award-winning idea how computer programs need to be structured, called "object orientation". The idea is that the details need to be hidden (within the 'square'), so that only a requisite function may be offered (as the 'circle') to the next larger whole. This idea can easily be understood if one thinks of the automobile, where the details (the engine, the electrical circuitry...) are hidden under the hub, so that only what is needed for operating the vehicle (the steering wheel, the instruments...) is offered and made visible to the driver.</p> | ||
− | + | <p> | |
+ | {| [[File:EARTHlabGlobal04.png]] | [[File:EARTHlabGlobal03.png]] |} | ||
+ | </p> | ||
<p>We call the activities that constitute the implementation of this principle <em>knowledge federation</em>.</p> | <p>We call the activities that constitute the implementation of this principle <em>knowledge federation</em>.</p> | ||
<p>Political federation brings smaller units together, to give them visibility and impact. <em>Knowledge federation</em> does that to information. Its goal is to turn information into <em>effective knowledge</em>. And to restore knowledge to power.</p> | <p>Political federation brings smaller units together, to give them visibility and impact. <em>Knowledge federation</em> does that to information. Its goal is to turn information into <em>effective knowledge</em>. And to restore knowledge to power.</p> | ||
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One necessary condition of successfully continuing our existence is the creation of an atmosphere of hope that the huge problems now confronting us can, in fact, be solved—and can be solved in time. | One necessary condition of successfully continuing our existence is the creation of an atmosphere of hope that the huge problems now confronting us can, in fact, be solved—and can be solved in time. | ||
</blockquote></p> | </blockquote></p> | ||
+ | </div> </div> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="page-header" ><h2>Federating the <em>holotopia</em></h2></div> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="row"> | ||
+ | <div class="col-md-3"><h4>Five insights</h4></div> | ||
+ | <div class="col-md-7"> | ||
+ | <p>The <em>holotopia</em> vision is <em>federated</em> and made concrete in terms of the [[Holotopia:Five insights|<em>five insights</em>]]. Strategically located in five pivotal domains: | ||
+ | <ul> | ||
+ | <li>values ("pursuit of happiness")</li> | ||
+ | <li>innovation (the way we use our creative powers, the technology, and our growing capacity to induce change)</li> | ||
+ | <li>communication (the way we handle information, and the way new communication media are put to use)</li> | ||
+ | <li>foundations for truth and meaning (or <em>knowledge about knowledge</em> or <em>epistemology</em>)</li> | ||
+ | <li>method (science, language, and whatever else is now trustingly used to create our worldview, and make sense of things)</li> | ||
+ | </ul> | ||
+ | the [[Holotopia:Five insights|<em>five insights</em>]] point, respectively, to | ||
+ | <ul> | ||
+ | <li>a revolution in general culture, similar to the Renaissance</li> | ||
+ | <li>a revolutionary improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of human work, similar to what the Industrial Revolution made possible</li> | ||
+ | <li>a revolution in communication, similar to what resulted from Gutenberg's invention</li> | ||
+ | <li>a revolution in our use of knowledge, reminiscent of the Enlightenment</li> | ||
+ | <li>a revolution in our understanding of the world, similar to what Science made possible</li> | ||
+ | </ul> | ||
+ | that are now within reach. Together, these more specific <em>insights</em> complete the larger <em>insight</em> that the <em>holotopia</em> stands for. </p> | ||
+ | <p>At the same time, the [[Holotopia:Five insights|<em>five insights</em>]] provide a framework for conversing about, and understanding, in an informed and effective way how breakthroughs can be achieved on various age-old or yet-to-be-recognized frontiers, such as | ||
+ | <ul> | ||
+ | <li>how to put an end to war</li> | ||
+ | <li>what might be the greatest contribution to human knowledge</li> | ||
+ | <li>how "digitalization" and "digital transformation" need to be done</li> | ||
+ | <li>how to revolutionize religion</li> | ||
+ | <li>in what way exactly education needs to change</li> | ||
+ | <ul> | ||
+ | </div> </div> | ||
+ | <div class="row"> | ||
+ | <div class="col-md-3"><h4>A strategy</h4></div> | ||
+ | <div class="col-md-7"> | ||
+ | <p>While each of the [[Holotopia:Five insights|<em>five insights</em>]] will alone show us our time and condition in a similar light as we might see the circumstances from which the Enlightenment emerged, even <em>more</em> illuminating are their relationships. By exploring them, we realize that we cannot meaningfully respond to any of those insights, without responding to them all. </p> | ||
+ | <p>A larger, overarching insight results: | ||
+ | <blockquote> Comprehensive change might be easy, even when smaller and obviously necessary changes may seem impossible.</blockquote> | ||
+ | </p> | ||
+ | <p>This insight points to the strategy that <em>holotopia</em> represents as a <em>meme</em> or a 'brand' —where instead of focusing on specific problems, or specific improvements, we consciously aim to understand, and strategically transform, the very <em>order of things</em> that holds them in place.</p> | ||
+ | </div> </div> | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="row"> | ||
+ | <div class="col-md-3"><h4>A project</h4></div> | ||
+ | <div class="col-md-7"> | ||
+ | [[File:H side.png]] | ||
+ | <small>Holotopia is an artistic update of our everyday reality.</small> | ||
+ | <p>We are reminded of Michelangelo painting his frescos on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel—and in the very heart of the old <em>order of things</em> sowing the seeds of "a great cultural revival". The Holotopia project is a collaboration of artists, scientists, knowledge-work media developers, young people, children and other stakeholders. We work together, and we all work as artists.</p> | ||
+ | </div> </div> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="row"> | ||
+ | <div class="col-md-3"><h4>A space</h4></div> | ||
+ | <div class="col-md-7"> | ||
+ | [[File:KunsthallDialog01.jpg]] | ||
+ | <p>Holotopia undertakes to develop whatever is needed for "changing course". Imagine it as a space, akin to a new continent or a "new world" that's just been discovered—which combines physical and virtual spaces, suitably interconnected. </p> | ||
+ | <p>In a symbolic sense, we are developing | ||
+ | |||
+ | * A fireplace | ||
+ | <small>where our varius <em>dialogs</em> take place, through which our insights are deepen by combining our collective intelligence with suitable insights from the past</small> | ||
+ | |||
+ | * A library | ||
+ | <small>where the necessary information is organized and provided, in a suitable form</small> | ||
+ | |||
+ | * A workshop | ||
+ | <small>where a new order of things emerges, through co-creation of <em>prototypes</em></small> | ||
+ | |||
+ | * A gallery | ||
+ | <small>where the resulting <em>prototypes</em> are displayed</small> | ||
+ | |||
+ | * A stage | ||
+ | <small>where our events take place</small> | ||
+ | </p> | ||
+ | </div> </div> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="row"> | ||
+ | <div class="col-md-3"><h4>The Box</h4></div> | ||
+ | <div class="col-md-7"> | ||
+ | [[File:Box1.jpg]] | ||
+ | <small>A model of The Box.</small> | ||
+ | <p> Holotopia's [[Holotopia:The Box|Box]] is an object designed for 'initiation' to <em>holotopia</em>, a way to help us 'unbox' our conception of the world and see, think and behave differently; change course inwardly, by embracing a new value.</p> | ||
+ | <p>We approach The Box from a specific interest, an issue we may care about—such as communication, or IT innovation, or the pursuit of happiness and the ways to improve the human experience, and the human condition. But when we follow our interest a bit deeper, by (physically) opening the box or (symbolically) considering the relevant insights that have been made—we find that there is a large obstacle, preventing our issue to be resolved. </p> | ||
+ | <p>We also see that by resolving this whole <em>new</em> issue, a much larger gains can be reached than what we originally anticipated and intended. And that there are <em>other</em> similar insights; and that they are all closely related.</p> | ||
+ | </div> </div> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="row"> | ||
+ | <div class="col-md-3"><h4>Icons and stories</h4></div> | ||
+ | <div class="col-md-7"> | ||
+ | <p>Since what we are presenting is a <em>prototype</em>—or in other words a <em>model</em>of a handling of information that can and needs to be implemented on a large scale, to give us <em>effective knowledge</em>—we take the liberty to incorporate some of the insights into our models without showing how <em>they</em> might be <em>federated</em>. Those insights are here represented by suitable <em>icons</em>, and made accessible by telling <em>stories</em>. This roughly corresponds to the technique that good journalists tend to use—where important issues are pointed to by telling interesting and "sticky" people and situation stories. </p> | ||
+ | <p>So the <em>holotopia</em>'s icon of "modern science" is, of course, Albert Einstein. The icon of our society's condition and urgent needs is Aurelio Peccei. Each of the <em>five insights</em> has a suitable icon, and a collection of stories by which it is made comprehensible and plausible. </p> | ||
+ | </div> </div> | ||
+ | |||
+ | <div class="row"> | ||
+ | <div class="col-md-3"><h4>A vocabulary</h4></div> | ||
+ | <div class="col-md-7"> | ||
+ | <p>Every new paradigm brings with it a new way of speaking. This collection of <em>keywords</em> is an alternative natural entry point to <em>holotopia</em>.</p> | ||
</div> </div> | </div> </div> | ||
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Revision as of 14:43, 1 April 2020
Contents
Holotopia
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 the bus are supposed 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 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.
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 the relationshnip we have with 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."
Suppose we handled information as we tend to handle other man-made thing—by suiting it to the purposes that must be served. What would 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 would emerge? How would the information technology be applied? What would our public informing be like? And our academic communication, and education?
The substance of our knowledge federation proposal is a complete and academically coherent answer to those and other related questions; an answer that is not only described and explained, but also implemented—as a collection of real-life embedded prototypes.
In the language of our metaphor, what we proposed is a complete prototype of the 'lightbulb'.
Seeing things whole
The Information ideogram, shown on the right, serves to explain the general idea of the information that will emanate from the proposed 'lightbulb'. And also its principle of operation. The ideogram shows an "i", which stands for "information", as composed of a circle placed on top of a square. The square represents the details; the circle represents the function, or the main point of it all. That might be an insight into the nature of a situation, and how the situation may need to be handled; or a rule of thumb, pointing to a general way of handling situations; or a project that implements such handling.
The Information ideogram points to the structure that information now needs to have—which is an adaptation of an award-winning idea how computer programs need to be structured, called "object orientation". The idea is that the details need to be hidden (within the 'square'), so that only a requisite function may be offered (as the 'circle') to the next larger whole. This idea can easily be understood if one thinks of the automobile, where the details (the engine, the electrical circuitry...) are hidden under the hub, so that only what is needed for operating the vehicle (the steering wheel, the instruments...) is offered and made visible to the driver.