Knowlegde/Authority

Doc Searls provides great pointers, and this one to Dave Weinberger's talk to the Library of Congress folks is particularly fine.  Here's why.

First off, Dave is brilliant.  'Nuff said.  Second, his deep, personal commitment to a humanizing agenda comes through in everything he writes, but even more so when you hear him speak.  Third, the issues he raises in this speech are very important.  Let's focus on number three for a second.

Dave points out that the definition of knowledge and the locus of authority are inextricably linked in history: traditionally, authorities determine what can officially come to be called "knowledge" (or, "facts.")  Like history, knowledge has always been written by the victors.

But, distributed authority leads to an erosion of official knowledge.  Dave points to wikipedia as a prime example of how the "center" is losing its hold on the ownership of knowledge.

This trend will threaten and frighten some who've held the power to define knowledge in the past, as we see in a recent backlash against blogs.  Nevertheless, the distribution of the creation of knowledge, and the affirmation of what Dave calls "miscellany," and what Chris Anderson refers to as the "long tail" is nothing less than the radical affirmation of multi-perspectivity in the social world. 

OK, let me say that again, maybe in English this time.

When any individual's point of view, preference or perspective on reality is affirmed and legitimized as "knowledge" (idiosyncratic and "miscellaneous" though it may be) it permits us to form a more complete picture of what constitutes reality, not what centralizing, normalizing powers decide will constitute reality.  I am able to connect that perspective with, and distinguish it from those of others.  I am encouraged to see the whole messy landscape, not a sanitized version of that landscape.

This approach most closely matches human experience. We know the complexity of human experience (what phenomenologists call, "the lived") is far greater than what can be conceptually categorized ("the known,") leaving us intuitively far more comfortable with a worldview that embraces that richness rather than one that simplifies everything into neat bundles. 

It makes us all feel like what we're hearing from one another is closer to TrueTalk.

Anyway, as Doc recommends, I'd suggest you listen to Dave's talk several times.  It's definitely worth the effort.

Comments

[Ronald McKinney]

I just listened to Dave Weinberger talk about authority/knowledge vs miscellany. Being old, trained in the authortative system, I'll have to listen to him again before I can say that I comprehend his message, but I think he's on the right track based on what I heard and his answers to questions/statements from his audience. I'm linked to Phil Windley's Technometria and IT Conversations and always enjoy listening to Doc Searls.