Psybertron Asks - What, Why and How do we Know ?

Social Software Alliance

Interesting that a main topic of the early work of this group, apart from ontologies / definitions of "topics" / interoperabilities, is unique identity of (social) individuals and communities - Friend of a Friend (FoaF) has been suggested. Given the significance of identity (URI's) for knowledge factoids, and the need for context information "about" these resources, it is also interesting that FoaF covers a great deal of information "about" an individual. In fact, the context information about the resource is pretty much one and the same as that about the individual. It's contextual information, including the "motivation" of the individual communicator, that allows the recipient to assess the validity of the information. In fact FoaF is very much along the lines of who cites who - Why should I believe that - Who said that - What are their credentials ? (FoaF even includes the individual's Myers-Briggs classification !)

So identifying individuals is more about their credentials than their identity per se. (Reputation Management.)

SSA is organised via a Wiki - the first one to which I've signed up - a kind of communal web site where you can add new, and edit each other's, pages. Often seen as a more interactive alternative to blogging.

Stealing Ideas ?

Quote by David Gurteen from Howard Aitken [Quote] Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats.[Unquote] Compare with this apparently conflicting Victor Hogo quote blogged earlier. [Quote] An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.[Unquote] Ah, the wonder of metphorical aphorisms.

And two clicks later here is another metaphor from blogroots, quoted by David Gurteen [Quote] Weblogs spread memes like no other medium. More ideas are being pushed around the network of minds connected by blogs than any other set of communications. It is like a petri dish for knowledge. [Unquote]

So how do you spread a good idea - warlike invasion, ram it down throats or sow tiny seeds ? How is it all three metaphors ring true ?

Conflicting Models of Learning and Knowledge

Excellent analysis from Oliver Wrede at Seblogging (Seb Fielder's aggregator ?) [via McGee] (Such a tangled web it's getting hard to distinguish whose thoughts are who's in this analysis). Anyway [Quote] Needless to say that the same dilemma can be found in countless corporate environments, too. [Unquote]

Seblogging is an interesting collection - Is "cognitive architects" an interactive community or merely an aggregation ?

Interestingly, McGee's musings on this blog make deferential reference to the late Donald Schon, the other half of the Argyris and Schon works to which I also I keep making reference.

More on Motivation and Context.

A little parable brought to my attention by Seb arising from a misunderstanding between two "communities" of knowledge personified by Stephen Downes and David Wiley. Of course bloggers are not "the" community, just one (set of) many (sets of) communities with vaious levels of communication links between them. In fact even within any one such "community" the communication links vary enormously. Anyway, the conclusion, and my main point of interest, is in "knowing the communicator" - without any context or understanding of the motivations of those with which we are communicating, very little of the information content communicated can be considered to be knowledge.

Repeat after me, "Motivation is a necessary component of any knowledge model."

Look out, the boss is coming ?

[Quote] A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is visible labour and there is invisible labour.[Unquote] from Victor Hugo via the Quotations Page, [via Curry], who also cites [Quote] An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.[Unquote] also from Victor Hugo.

Information Motivation

Post from Jerry Ash that has spawned an interesting discussion thread on motivation behind communication. I responded to Denham Grey's contribution. My position is, and always has been, that intent (motive) is a key (necessary) component of a good information model.

MIT on McLuhan

How the act of communicating (through the media) changes what appears to be known, even knowable ? [via AsWeKnowIt]. See also earlier McLuhan link.

Semantic Networks

Excellent summary from John Sowa. [via Jorn]

His NIBBS

Dr Ian Pitchford runs the Human Nature Review and publishes this Daily Review of news in evolutionary psychology as "NIBBS". [via Jean-Luc Delatre]. Recent editions include very positive reviews of Pinker's "The Blank Slate", Dennett's "Freedom Evolves" and Jones' "Y - The Descent of Men". A positive gold mine of material.

Jean-Luc Delatre

Only just discovered this site, following some feedback from Jean-Luc. An interesting mix of Tao (Zen) thought with epistemology and ontologies. It seems Jean-Luc has been venting his frustration with the ontology approach at SUO / SUMO, where he has crossed swords with fellow conspirator at EPISTLE, Matthew West.