Imagine...

You are about to board a bus for a long night ride, when you notice two flickering streaks of light emanating from two wax candles, placed in the circular holes where the headlights of the bus are expected to be. Candles? As headlights?

Of course, the idea of candles as headlights is absurd. So why propose it? Because on a much larger scale this absurdity has become reality.

By depicting our society as a bus without a steering wheel, and the way we look at the world and try to comprehend it and handle it as a pair of candle headlights, the Modernity ideogram renders the essence of our contemporary situation.

Modernity ideogram

The KF proposal

We have candles as headlights

From around the middle of the 19th century, and until the first decades of the 20th century, everything changed: Our countries became democracies; our worldview became scientific and secular; our lifestyle became mechanized and modern. Everything changed—and then for about a century remained frozen!

Meanwhile the human creativity, unleashed from tradition, continued to bear fruits; and we now have

• a completely different understanding of language, truth and reality, and of the meaning and purpose of information and its relationship with power
• a completely new information technology—first the TV, and the immersive audio-visual media, and then the Internet and the interactive digital media
• completely changed societal needs and challenges—from increasing productivity, to understanding and controlling our newly acquired powers to change the planetary systems, and bring about our own end
• the heritage of the world traditions—which for the first time came together and became available

Indeed—as we shall see again and again in the course of our conversations—the most important ideas of our leading thinkers, and the main insights of entire academic disciplines, remained without due influence on public opinion and institutional policy! To this curious phenomenon we have given the name Wiener's paradox.

The point of departure of the knowledge federation initiative is an alarming split—between published academic insights, and the way we as society and culture tend to see the world; and try to handle issues.

"Knowledge federation" means 'connecting the dots'

The purpose of knowledge federation is to restore the agency to information, and the power to knowledge.

Knowledge federation can be understood as the principle of operation of an entirely different pair of 'headlights'—by which this purpose is achieved.

Political federation combines smaller political units together, to give them visibility and impact. Knowledge federation does that to information. As our logo might suggest—knowledge federation means 'connecting the dots'.

By 'connecting the dots', we can reach a new insight—and see an issue or a situation in a new way, which shows how it may need to be handled. Or we can create a prototype—and give to information a way to impact the reality directly

We are proposing to create new 'headlights'

The core of our knowledge federation proposal is to change the relationship we have with information.

What is our relationship 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."

We are proposing to handle information as we handle other man-made things—by suiting it to the purposes that need to be served.

Or to rephrase this in the language of our metaphor, we are proposing to create the 'headlights'—instead of trying to make use of whatever happens to be there; instead of blindly adopting what we've inherited from the past.

We have created a prototype

What consequences will knowledge federation have? How will information be different? How will it be used? By what methods, what social processes, and by whom will it be created? What new information formats will emerge, and supplement or replace the traditional books and articles? How will information technology be adapted? What will public informing be like? And academic communication, and education?

The substance of our proposal is the Knowledge Federation prototype—a complete and academically coherent answer to those and other related questions. An answer that is not only described and explained, but also implemented—in a collection of real-life embedded prototypes.

An application

What difference will this make? The Holotopia prototype, which is under development, is a proof of concept application.

The Club of Rome's assessment of the situation we are in, provided us with a benchmark challenge for putting our ideas to test. Four decades ago—based on a decade of this global think tank's research into the future prospects of mankind, in a book titled "One Hundred Pages for the Future"—Aurelio Peccei issued the following warning:

"It is absolutely essential to find a way to change course."

Aurelio Peccei

Why did Peccei's call to action remain unanswered? Why wasn't The Club of Rome's purpose—to illuminate the course our civilization has taken—served by our society's institutions, as part of their function? Isn't this already showing that we are 'driving with candle headlights'?

Can knowledge federation help us "change course"?

Peccei also specified what needed to be done to "change course":

"The future will either be an inspired product of a great cultural revival, or there will be no future."

This conclusion, that our present crisis has cultural roots and must be handled accordingly, Peccei shared with a number of twentieth century's thinkers. Arne Næss for instance, Norway's esteemed philosopher, reached it on different grounds, and called it "deep ecology".

The Club of Rome insisted that lasting solutions would not be found by focusing on specific problems, but by transforming the condition from which they all stem, which they called "problematique".

A vision

What new 'course' shall we see, when we use knowledge federation to 'illuminate the way'?

The holotopia is an astonishingly positive future scenario.

This future vision is more positive than what the familiar utopias offered—whose authors lacked the information to see what was possible; or lived in the times when the resources we have did not yet exist.

When the evidence offered on these pages has been considered, it will be clear why holotopia is not only "the new black"—but also the new red; and the new green!

Unlike the utopias, the holotopia is readily realizable; we already have all that is needed for its fulfillment.

All we need to do to realize this vision, all that remains for us to do to "change course", is to follow a principle or a rule of thumb, which is suggested by the holotopia's very name.

We must see ourselves as parts in a larger whole; and act in ways that make this larger whole more whole.

But this is exactly the direction the Modernity ideogram is pointing to!

The point is to see that—whenever we are using information, or creating it—we are those 'headlights'! And to self-organize, and act, as this function may require.

The direction this rule of thumb is pointing to is a radical departure from our current course—which emerges as a result of everyone pursuing "his our own interests"; and trusting that "the invisible hand" of the "free competition" will turn our self-serving acts into the greatest common good.

Five insights

The holotopia vision is made concrete in terms of five insights.

We are living on a brink of a cultural renewal

When Peccei talked about "a great cultural revival", he was obviously referring to the the Renaissance—as the historical moment when the last comprehensive change of the human systems began. We refer to it by using the symbolic image of Galilei in house arrest—and carefully develop an analogy between that pregnant historical moment and our present times and conditions. The five insights explain why a similar change is ready to take place once again in our own time, by elaborating on the analogy between our times and conditions with each of the five specific changes of which the historical comprehensive change was composed:

• the Industrial Revolution
• the revolution in communication made possible by the printing press
• the empowerment of human reason to explore and comprehend the world
• the vast improvement in our ability to explore and comprehend the world, through science
• the liberation from the preoccupation with the afterlife, and empowerment to "pursue happiness" here and now

By radically improving the efficiency and the effectiveness of human work, the Industrial Revolution liberated our ancestors from toil, and enabled them to engage in a cultural revival. The power structure insight shows that in this process a peculiar oversight was made; and that a new wave of change with similar consequences is possible.

By radically improving communication, the printing press enabled a rapid dissemination of information, and growth of knowledge. The collective mind insight shows that the new media enable a similar revolution—where the improvement will not be only in the production of the volume of data, but also and most importantly in the organization of information; and in the quality of knowledge.

What Galilei before all stands for is a change of the foundations on which information and knowledge are created and handled—from an unreserved faith in the Scriptures, to an empowerment of reason to explore and understand the world. The socialized reality insight shows that an error has been made, and also academically discovered. The situation that resulted obliges us to once again liberate and empower the human reason—to make the kind of difference that now must be made.

Galilei also stands for the onset of science—as the method by which the human reason was empowered. The narrow frame insight shows that the scientific revolution remained confined to the natural world; and why the evolution of science can continue, and enable a revolution in the human world.

The Renaissance is, of course, most vividly remembered as an emancipation of the arts, and of the joy of living and human quality. The convenience paradox insight shows that once again our "pursuit of happiness" got stalled by a myth. And why a new Renaissance is ready to begin.

The sixth insight

The anomalies the five insights point to, and the corresponding solutions, are so closely inter-related that taking care of one necessitates resolving the others. In this way the sixth insight is reached:

Comprehensive change can be easy—even when smaller and obviously necessary changes may have proven impossible.

A view of the next Renaissance

Together, the five insights constitute a breath-taking sight of a spectacular development taking place presently. It escaped the attention of the media, because a variety of academic and other insights need to be put together, for it to become visible.

The five insights combined together enable us to see our own time in a similar light as we see the historical moment when Galilei was in house arrest. It is a time of deep and shocking incongruences. Time when what once appeared as "normal" can no longer continue. The moment when the ideas bringing change were still out of the focus of the public eye; when 'Galilei was still in house arrest'.

A case for new 'headlights'

While sharing the pieces of evidence that make the five insights palpable and clear, we also present the evidence and make a case for our proposal—to create 'new headlights'

The simple yet striking image those pieces compose together is of science emerging (from 'house arrest') as a radically better way to explore and understand the natural phenomena; and demolishing the very mechanism of cultural reproduction (as a side effect of its successes, and without intending to)—by disproving the fundamental assumptions and the worldview on which it was based (the faith in the Scripture, and the age-old myths of the tradition); and with no deliberate attempt to restore what was damaged (the scientists most conscientiously do what they consider as "their job").

The overall result, spectacular albeit potentially tragic, is that we the people have no information that would 'show us the day'—in the moment of our history where our civilization's very existence may depend on it.

A case for academic revival

The image of Galilei in house arrest is a snapshot of an instance where an age-old tradition was about to become alive again—and make a difference.

Socrates, whom we honor as the founding icon of the academic tradition, did not leave us a new worldview, or a theory. His work was to ask questions—and by doing that, empower the human reason (which tended to be then, as it is now, put to rest by the comforting belief that we already know, which suits our self-esteem and power positions) to question the very foundations of our beliefs. It is not practical knowledge the academia stands for, bu the knowledge of knowledge; and the foundations of knowledge. In Galilei's time, this all-important praxis (of using the reason to examine the foundations) was about to become alive again; and make a difference. Could a similar advent be in store for us today?

The arguments advanced in association with the five insights show in a most careful academic way that the state of the art of knowledge of knowledge once again demands such development. The age-old assumptions on which the ideas about knowledge and reality, which the academia is the keeper of, have been once again been proven false.

Traditionally, the academia does not stand for useful knowledge, but for "right" knowledge. We show that the time is ripe for merging those two sets of criteria into one. We show, in a way that honors the time-tested values of the academic tradition, that the change of the relationship we have with information, which we are proposing, is also a way to resolve the reported fundamental anomalies in our conception and handling of information.

This issue is also political

Every genuine revolution is also a revolution in justice; not only in the way in which justice is handled, but also in the way in which it is conceived. Galilei was in house arrest not only because his ideas were "heretical", but also and perhaps primarily because he was questioning the foundations on which the existing power relations depended.

Each of the five insights contributes a new piece also to that puzzle. When those pieces are put together, a completely new idea of justice and freedom, and what tends to obstruct them, results. We see who, or what, 'holds Galilei in house arrest' once again in our own time—even though the form and the means of oppression are entirely different than they were then.

A strategy

We must become able to "change course"

The COVID-19 crisis and its fallout reminded us of the connectedness and the vulnerability of the human system. This was a relatively minor disturbance—compared to the irreversible changes that are expected to result from, for instance, the climate change.

In this situation, the question of strategy is of paramount importance.

The problems, such as the coronavirus epidemic and the climate change, of course have to be dealt with. But is that sufficient? Einstein's familiar observation, that we cannot solve our problems by thinking as we did when we created them, is implicit in every step that our initiative has made.

We need different thinking to avoid riots and conflicts. In the absence of deeper understanding, the age-old scapegoats will be blamed: "the lazy people on welfare"; the immigrant workers; the 1%; the Jews or the Muslims.

And we also need different thinking to direct the remedial efforts productively. Pecei wrote:

The Club of Rome also realized that our generations, swollen with pride in our technological triumphs, must regain the sense of human responsibilities that I have already mentioned. On this point, let me digress briefly.

For some time now, the perception of these responsibilities has motivated a number of organizations and small voluntary groups of concerned citizens which have mushroomed all over to respond to the demands of new situations or to change whatever is not going right in society. These groups are now legion. They arose sporadically on the most varied fronts and with different aims. They comprise peace movements, supporters of national liberation, and advocates of women's rights and population control; defenders of minorities, human rights, and civil liberties; apostles of "technology with a human face" and the humanization of work; social workers and activists for social changed; ecologists, friends of the Earth or of animals; defenders of consumer rights; non-violent protesters; conscientious objectors, and many others. These groups are usually small but, should the occasion arise, they can mobilize a host of men and women, young and old, inspired by a profound sense of the common good and by moral obligations which, in their eyes, are more important than all others.

They form a kind of popular army, actual or potential, with a function comparable to that of the antibodies generated to restore normal conditions in a biological organism that is diseased or attacked by pathogenic agents. The existence of so many spontaneous organizations and groups testifies of the vitality of our societies, even in the midst of the crisis they are undergoing. Means will have to be found one day to consolidate their scattered efforts in order to direct them toward strategic objectives.

The holotopia strategy is to change the whole order of things

What can make a large enough difference to really make a difference?

The holotopia strategy follows from the five insights, and is suggested by its name—it is to focus on changing the entire order of things from which our problems emanate. As we have seen, that is also the strategy that The Club of Rome recommended.

Such a strategy can and needs to be pursued through radically changed awareness and values. And through collaboration, not conflict.

We begin with information

Just as building a house must begin with the foundations, changing the whole order of things has its own natural order in which it needs to proceed. As the Modernity ideogram suggested, to change course, we must begin by changing the illumination source, so that the new course may become visible. In the "Age of Information", now turning into "Anthropocene", we urgently need the kind of information that can illuminate the way.

Tactical assets

The elephant

Imagine the 20th century's visionary thinkers as those proverbial blind-folded men touching an elephant. We hear them talk about things like "a fan", "a water hose" and "a tree trunk". But they don't make sense, and we ignore them.

Everything changes when we realize that they are really talking about the ear, the trunk and the leg of an imposingly large exotic animal, which nobody has yet had a chance to see—a whole new order of things, or cultural and social paradigm!

The effect of the five insights is to orchestrate this act of 'connecting the dots'—so that the spectacular event we are part of, this exotic 'animal', the new 'destination' toward which we will now "change course" becomes clearly visible.

A side effect is that the academic results once again become interesting and relevant. In this context newly created, they acquire a whole new meaning; and agency!

Stories

We bring together stories (elsewhere called vignettes)—which in attractive and accessible ways share the core insights of leading contemporary thinkers. We tell their stories.

They become 'dots' to connect in our conversations.

Keywords

The Renaissance too, and also science, brought along a whole new way of speaking—and hence a new way to look at the world. All along, and with the five insights in particular, we introduce the keywords which are newly defined. It is in terms of those keywords that we come to understand the core issues and our time in completely new ways.

Prototypes

Information has agency only when it has a way to impact our actual physical reality. A goal of the Holotopia project is to co-create prototypes—new elements of our new reality. All along we share the prototypes we've already developed, to put the ball in play.

Dialogs

This point cannot be overemphasized: Our goal is not to warn, inform, propose a new way to look at the world—but to change our collective mind. Physically. <p>We organize public dialogs about the five insights, and other themes related to change, in order to make change.

Here the medium in the truest sense is the message; by developing those dialogs, we re-create our collective mind—from something that only receives, which is dazzled by the media... to something that is capable of weaving together academic and other insights, and by engaging the best of our "collective intelligence" seeing what needs to be done, and directing and coordinating action.

The five insights, and the ten direct relationships between them, provide us the points of reference, in the context of which some of the age-old challenges are understood and handled in entirely new ways (for a complete list see Ten conversations — change the name into DIALOGS):

• Our ways of serving the all-important cause of peace have largely remained palliative, not curative; what would it take to truly make an end to war, once and for all? Can we now turn conflict-based politics into collaboration?
• Education—as our society's very 'reproduction system', which creates a new world with every new generation—is an obvious leverage point for enabling change. How education may need to change, to enable instead of inhibiting the larger societal transformation
• It has become modern to consider religion as a source of prejudice, as dogmatically believing in something, in spite of evidence; and as a source of conflict. But in traditional cultures religion has played an essential role—of binding each person to a purpose, and all of them to a community. Can we, in the light of the five insights, re-invent and re-evolve religion? Have it play a similar role for us as it played in the past—but in a completely changed way?

Art and new media

Snapshot from our pilot project in Kunsthall 3.14, Bergen.

The Holotopia project combines contemporary art with contemporary media (tools for "augmenting our collective intellect", creative video recording and editing etc.), to change our collective mind.

The dialogs we expect to have are a re-creation of the conventional "reality shows"—which show the contemporary reality in ways that need to be shown. The relevance is on an entirely different scale. And the excitement and actuality are of course larger! We engage the "opinion leaders" to contribute their insights to the cause. When successful, the result is most timely and informative. When these conversations fail—they reveal to us, in a spotlight, our resistances and our blind spots, our clinging to the obsolete forms of thought. Which is, of course, not any less exciting and relevant.

Occasionally we publish books about those themes, based on our dialogs, and to begin new ones.

Completing the Knowledge Federation prototype

The academic cause is presently obstructed ('Galilei is held in house arrest') by a most interesting challenge, which we have called the Wiener's paradox: Our collective mind is structured in a way that leaves the academia disconnected, from the public opinion and from the policy. As we have seen, the core mission of our knowledge federation initiative is to remedy that split.

This paradox, however, means that whatever we may say in an academic publication—is likely to remain without effect! But what else can we do? The Holotopia project is our prototype answer. Its purpose within the Knowledge Federation prototype is to complete the prototype by federating knowledge federation!

Imagine us as a collection of 'cells' in our 'collective mind' which mutated in a new way. Having perceived our society as a bus with candle headlights, we have perceived ourselves as (part of) those headlights. And we began to self-organize differently, so that we may become lightbulbs!

We made a small snowball, and began to roll it downhill. But will it gather snow? Will it have the effect it is intended to have?

Margaret Mead wrote in Continuities in Cultural Evolution, already in 1964:

(W)e are living in a period of extraordinary danger, as we are faced with the possibility that our shole species will be eliminated from the evolutionary scene."

<p>Well before The Club of Rome said its word, Mead pointed to the critical task at hand:

Although tremendous advances in the human sciences have been made in the last hundred years, almost no advance has been made in their use, especially in ways of creating reliable new forms in which cultural evolution can be directed to desired goals.

Mead's best known motto is encouraging:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

We leave her more sober words, regarding what constitutes "a small group of... citizens" that are capable of making such a large difference, as the challenge the Holotopia initiative is presently facing:

</p>Although lengthy discussions about different kinds of leadership in different situations serve, indirectly, to explain why science has not solved the problem of identifying leaders, they serve no further constructive purpose.</p>

Instead, we take the position that the unit of cultural evolution is neither the single gifted individual nor the society as a whole but the small group of interacting individuals who, together with the most gifted among them, can take the next step; then we can set about the task of creating the conditions in which the appropriately gifted can actually make a contribution. That is, rather than isolating potential "leaders," we can purposefully produce the conditions we find in history, in which clusters are formed of a small number of extraordinary and ordinary men, so related to their period and to one another that they can consciously set about solving the problems they propose for themselves.