Social Knowing

Knowledge is not individualistic; its collective. Knowledge is between us, it emerges from public an social thought. Two things that Weinbereger discusses about social knowing in this chapter are blogs and wikipedia, both of which are prime examples of how third order devices expand our collective knowledge.

The Blog

Every week, we write for this class via blog. As a course that examines writing in a digital age, the blog seems an appropriate medium for us to communicate and exchange our ideas. However not everyone believes in the usefulness of blogs. Michael Gorman, the president of the American Library Association wrote in the Library Journal: "A blog is a species of interactive electronic diary by means of which the unpublishable, untrammeled by editors or the rules of grammar, can communicate their thoughts via the web". Although Gorman is attacking the act of blogging, we must first assess his bias. He is the President of the American Library Association. The library is overwhelmingly attached to the first and second orders of order, so of course the president is going to find an opposition to a medium that destroys everything his association s built upon. While a library idolizes concrete facts and proper writing, the blog shows an evolution of writing, where creativity if preferred to the standard universal format. Therefore, while I agree that blogging is unfiltered and unedited, I believe these are strengths, not weaknesses.

Wikipedia

"And what is the most important thing Wikipedia teaches us? That Wikipedia is possible. A miscellaneous collection of anonymous and pseudonymous authors can precipitate knowledge (Weinberger 139)". Who hasn't used Wikipedia? We all rely on the ease of use and plethora of knowledge the website has about virtually any topic. However, if someone said twenty years ago that one day people will rely on a source that is entirely composed from unknown, and largely unqualified authors, many of us would have not believed them. This is the magic of wikipedia. It allows us to have control of the distribution and organization of knowledge, letting every individual edit the next, and allowing knowledge to grow rather than being spoon fed into our brains. I strongly support Wikipedia, not only for the information it provides me, but for what it says about our society, and how we can rely on each other, rather than professionals, for information.