ooh, good post. Sorry mine wasn't up to par ;) I had to abort mid-process
and didn't get a chance to fix errors in spelling/grammer/cognizance (I
guess that's a semi-lugubrious _yes_ for a forum. If only for the sake of
being able to revise posts ...ooh, wait, and hyperlinks!).
I'm not going to backtrack with my argument but I would like to readdress
its tone. I think I was misperceived (fault none but my own)
I agree with you that social change radiates from a small axis in the
population. I agree that a free market of knowledge and ideas is a good and
necessary thing. Yes, gnu is good. Wikipedia is awesome.
I agree with you in principle that one goal of society is to "draw a line in
the sand" and establish that anything that is on one side of that line in
terms of human suffering is unacceptable.
Yes, I believe that Wikimedia is cool and is probably affecting the world on
a societal level (dammit I just tried to use an emacs keystroke with
safari..)
But I don't think that's enough to justify it as a champion of the merits
mentioned.
In my (cynical) eyes something has to do more than "be a cool idea" to
register a serious imprint on the world--id est: facto, non verba. In other
words, in deeds not words. A quantifiably serious change for the good
qualifiable as resulting from Wikimedia would make all this a null point.
I argue simply that its not enough on its own.
There is a theory in economics that, given the existence of two bridges, one
being 80% the quality of the other--there is probably a factor in difference
in price between the two of two or three times each other because materials
and effort required to make a bridge 20% better than another bridge cost
less than the supplies needed to build a crappy bridge. Also along this
stream of logic, the significant difference between a good bridge and an
80%-as-good bridge is nothing compared to difference between the presence of
a barely workable bridge and no bridge at all.
Software running in a water purification plant in bumf%$# Africa is creating
a bridge where previously there was none. A computer running a
BioInformatics script helping predict the growth of cancerous cells in a
certain region of the body is helping reinforce a terribly weak bridge that
needs to be made stronger.
A massive network of bored programmers, college professors, and housewives
creating a free online encyclopedia that is more in depth and up-to-date
than other _consolidated_ sources is an awesome thing--a generous swelling
from 80 to 95% bridge quality for a population of the world that already has
access to the real great facilitator of information exchange (the Internet)
while (I) "113 million children around the world [still] have no access to
primary education."
Yes, the catalyst of massive social change is the subset of the population
with the strength to start it.
Spending more time on the Internet, by itself, is not a huge social change.
Aside from the aforementioned acumen or
literacy, suffering on a daily basis the trials and tribulations
of the broader society creates a sense of solidarity and
compassion. (2) This unsatisfactoriness provides the impetus to
educate and empower the masses with the hopes of ending human
suffering.
To be honest I think the fountain of free information pouring down upon our
society from its great and various sources of media might just be falling
on... the eyes and ears of a society too enthralled with its various sources
of media to really care. Case in point: the proportion of media time and
public reaction to (I) 180,000 people dying in a tsunami and 1 hot southern
girl lost in argentina.
Indeed those fortunate few set the precedent. Those
who have the opportunity to access information and the clarity
of insight to see that intellectual property is a cause of
suffering--that freeing the processes by which our daily
necessities are produced--is a step towards liberation.
...as Ghandi said, weave
your own thread.
Gahndi also said "be the change you want to see in the world." I read into
that "because it won't change itself" but some may also interpreted it as
"because everyone will follow your example".
Yes, the free flow of information is great. But if we lived in a society in
which the free flow of information was previously hindered it would be
greater.
Only time will tell if something more comes from Wikimedia than a better
encyclopedia than Encarta and a good glossary of programming jargon.
best wishes
happy hacking
-Nick
(I) http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/12/30/asia.quake/ *
* stole your quotes system!
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