ideablog

Friday, June 30, 2006

A Modest Proposal: All Big Thinkers Must Blog

A Modest Proposal: All Big Thinkers Must Blog

And blog now.

Does every scientist blog yet? I would think they would want to, after all, scientists love ideas, and are truth-searchers by nature. But yet, when you speak to scientists, they are often hesitant to express opinion or speculation, as they are adherents to the scientific method and bound to the observable.

But scientists are led by belief, if at best by only the canons of science. So it is only a convenient assumption to say that scientists are bound by objectivity, and it doesn't say anything about the value of speculation brought forth by a scientist. Isn't it better to hear grand pronouncements by someone who has studied the topic, rather than an amateur who has no evidence to support their theories?

So perhaps scientists might be hesitant to blog, per se. But in the right context, I am sure that even the most conservative scientist could add something of value to the global conversation.

Witness Edge: THE WORLD QUESTION CENTER 2003. Hundreds of concise entries on broad, sweeping questions covering many areas of human knowledge.

It strikes me that the web doesn't allow, it DEMANDS, a concise, layman's approach to writing. If the audience is broad, broadly-appealing language must be used. The web audience is also not bound to a topic or entry like one is bound to a book. A paper published in a medical journal can afford to challenge the attention-span of its readers. A blog-style post must get its point across quickly, without requiring much additional background. Hyperlinks can be exploited to add reference material for fact-checking or further detail. The casual style also signals to readers that content is to be understood as speculative writing.

It is a new medium that scientists will exploit for sharing ideas, across disciplines and with amateurs.

omidyar.net

omidyar.net


I'm looking for websites that have significant communities of thinkers, where esoteric and complicated subjects are discussed in layperson's terms, or at least with the goal of increasing common understanding of difficult topics.

Omidyar.net came up when I searched for the term "good question". I believe that a resource that centred around answering "good questions" would be very valuable. Already there are several quality sites for getting answers to common questions people have, e.g. Answers.com, Ask.com etc. A resource I'd like to find is one where very smart people in a variety of disciplines are connected around discussing questions that are truly difficult to answer.

Wikipedia does a good job of documenting major concepts and related controversies, but does not provide much forum for the inevitable arguments that arise. It is not a space intended to air speculative thinking. A site that allowed both space for speculative pieces as well as a wiki-based documentation space might be valuable.

There seems to be a lot of activity around "good questions", with a lot of interest in edge.org's World Question Centre. Some excellent questions have been posed and answered here, with many great thinkers providing fascinating responses.

A website that encouraged regular people to submit responses, with opportunity for responses and feedback might be interesting. This kind of content exists everywhere, split across millions of sites and communities, where people pose their questions to their select group. As a result, many good questions and answers are buried in search results.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

Memetics

Memetics

Good starting point on memetics.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Probing the Hive Mind

Goner | MetaFilter

The Hive Mind, shown here at Metafilter, has made me think about the simultaneous fragmentation and connection that occurs on forums. As conversations typically happen on Metafilter, responses are short, cutting or witty, and make some sort of judgment, either evaluating the post, or commenting on an aspect of the story that is interesting to them. Other responses are generated from the comments themselves, and frequently result in personal attacks and flame wars. Users are rewarded for interesting comments, by way of responses and the opportunity to respond again.

Concise comments are better, and appreciated by this community, although longer comments are permitted if necessary to convey the idea.

Users are in competition for attention. Sarcasm is used as a tool to reveal more with fewer words. It reveals a judgment, with which people can either agree or disagree with. If you think it's funny, you think it's true. You make a connection to this person, although it's only just a handle. At the same time, you define yourself a little more, and draw divisions from those who would disagree.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

notes from the patio

the 3-D web?

interface for 3-D web browsing, wiki-browsing, file-management. finding hidden connections. research tool. brain-storming tool. knowledge-management.

expert answers: community for deep thinkers; attract "experts", academics, professionals, to answer questions posed by the greater community.

Editorial control? Shouldn't be a MetaFilter written by experts. Should start with a question posed by the community, like AskMefi? But categorized. Wiki?

May be necessary to manage front page to divert readership to notable posts. need to reward good posts, filter out noise. easy linkability, tagging.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Web Usage Pattern: Multiple, Long Tangential Conversations

The barrier that is lifted when you're a skilled web user is enormous. When answers to questions are available within seconds, one is able to follow long trains of thought without worrying about losing the main thrust of your research. Following hyperlinked text leaves a trail of crumbs that can be followed back home at any time, whenever the particular diversion is exhausted.

Before the internet, researchers had to be more selective with their sources. Internet research enables for deeper investigation into matters that would be deemed not worth the cost in traditional research. One can only read so many books, particularly when you must physically locate each one first. Freed from this burden, internet researchers can follow flights of fancy without worrying about wasting much time. If something is there, it can be quickly identified and followed up upon; if not, little time is lost.

Because of this acceleration, patterns of how we conduct research are entirely different. You might click on a related link, and follow related links until you forget what you were studying previously. But you can easily trace back using your history, or by maintaining multiple windows. The result is a pattern very similar to a spiders web. Starting from the middle, working around, and following long diverging strings outwards. Linkages between concepts far from the centre are important for holding the whole structure together; but the inner rings are what enable the outer rings to exist in the first place.

That metaphor may be both a stretch and a cliche, but undoubtedly the web enables a kind of research not possible before. It is a kind of pattern recognition at a much higher level. Traditional research focused on containing scope-- limiting the question and suggesting broad, universal importance. Current research, by virtue of the accelerated environment, can cover both broader scope and broader universality. The "Further Questions" section can be lengthy and ambitious, because the easy questions could all be answered.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

The Web as Mesh of Owned Knowledge

Mathrock.com | Mathrock Defined

The guy who owns mathrock.com uses the space largely to define the term "mathrock". It strikes me that the web will evolve to systematically and collectively define terminology until examples like this are ubiquitous.

This of course will first apply to new terms like "mathrock" and especially to those that easy to define and represent large areas of interest.

As people get better at choosing domain names, the ability to find authoritative information on a topic improves. Witness how Wikipedia found its niche as a reliable starting point for preliminary research on any topic. Finding a quick definition through Google is often easy, just by typing in the terms. If the subject is well-enough known, and frequently searched (by people looking for basic info, definition etc.) the Wikipedia entry is often high on the list. Above that might be a popular blog post or article about the topic, or news items.

For more esoteric terms, individuals have "taken ownership" of related domains, and use the space to define the terms in their own way. If these sites are popular, they will tend to remain. In cases where "squatters" have taken ownership of domains unrelated to their business--supposedly to profit from the name-- domains often switch hands to the individual or group that represents the name in the minds of the public (to the extent the public's view can be determined). It could be said that whoever defines the term/space better is the one who should own the domain.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Robert Reich's Blog: Opinion Leaders Converge on the Web

It strikes me, as I read Robert Reich's Blog for the first time, that I don't read any other blogs written by people whose books I've read, and who I admire. Is this because not many print writers write on the web? Surely this can't be true...I'll have to do some research. Surely those who aim to be opinion leaders would be attracted to the web, as it enables them to connect rapidly with their audience.

I will think about this more, but it seems to me that in the future established opinion leaders will all participate in online communication, and will therefore need to be competent with the medium. A good author is certainly not necessarily a good blogger, but I don't see why not.

Building the Web

Software companies are no different from other companies in that they know where their bread is buttered. There is a tendency then, to focus on responding to your clients, and lose sight of ways to expand into new markets. And this would be a shame, because software is creating new markets all the time. Software designers design lives, not just applications. And as the public becomes accustomed to redesigning their lives, opportunity only grows for new applications. It is the software designer's job to lead the way.

Nowhere is this more true than with respect to internet applications. The emergence of AJAX and "Web 2.0" show that as ideas converge, standards develop, and innovation follows.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Google Trends: mcluhan, postman, innis, chomsky

Google Trends: mcluhan, postman, innis, chomsky

I will link this with my previous post about the above guys, who represent the first round of my NEW GAME: Obscure-Famous-Person-Google-Trends-Death-Match!

Postman tries to take him out in late 2005 and early 2006, but Chomsky pulled it out. We'll have to check in later.

I guess it's not really a death match. More of a never-ending popularity contest.

Official Google Blog: Setting trends

Official Google Blog: Setting trends

I've decided to start reading the Official Google Blog, which (now obviously) should be the central conversation of the Search Community. We'll see.

Google Trends is exciting as hell, and I'm going to be paying attention to it for a while.

Google's real power base seems to be its dominant position in the search market and the deluge of search information it has collected over the past few years to improve its product. Can't say Google looks anything but good lately (apart from the potentially-being-evil thing).

Search trend data seems to be one of the more potentially powerful elements that Google can provide to users. I think it promises to answer a lot of previously unanswerable questions, or at least provide another measure with which to compare our perceptions.

Google Trendspotting is the new Google Siteseeing.