Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Blackout and Knowledge?
What ever will we do for the next 24 hours? While I support what they've (Wikipedia/they?) here, I can't help but think about the reasoning involved in the statement "Imagine a World without Free Knowledge!" Access to digital media in the US isn't exactly free. (I mean, I pay private companies--e.g., Comcast or EPB--for web access.) More interesting perhaps is the correlation/implied connection between information and knowledge. Is that now a given? I think it's more complicated than that.
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Just because the information is out there, doesn't necessarily mean we are learning. Just as in a classroom, students physically being in the classroom doesn't mean they are actually learning. So, I agree that it's more complicated than that.
ReplyDeleteAlso, with the rising dependence on free knowledge, what would happen if it were banned in the future or uber-regulated by the government. Would we know how to do what we do each day without free knowledge and information sharing?
I agree guys. I worry that at some point the Internet will be regulated/controlled, but we also gotta remember that our textbooks are printed in much the same manner. I remember my high school history book contained very little of what actually happened during WWI & II, Civil War, and nothing on Vietnam. I remember being outraged when I learned about the vastness of slavery and "touchy" topics such as the KKK not being mentioned. It bothers me that we still have to filter through the crap online to "learn" anything, and the generations coming up behind me are unconcerned about using sites such as Wikipedia as main sources for info. At this point in the game, all we can do is continue to educate ourselves and others and be aware that the truth is found only through careful and diligent work.
DeleteExcellent comments/replies! Thanks!
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