geographies of knowledge

[miriam_e]

...or, the countries of Earth merge while the countries of mind emerge.

Have you noticed the increasing separation between the realms of knowledge? It's nothing new for people to band together and then diverge from the rest of humanity. What is new is that these groups are no longer necessarily bound by geography. Their members can exist all over the planet inside an increasingly homogeneous society, but are becoming separated from other groups by vast gulfs of understanding. A geography of mind is diversifying, isolating regions that seemed not long ago to be the one kingdom. A kind of continental drift is in effect, but instead of taking millions of years to produce noticeable change, this works in mere decades, or even less.

Hundreds of years ago any single person could reasonably hope master much of the knowledge and literature of the world. Now it's impossible to master just a single narrow disipline.

I expect amazing new breeds of mental engineers will work out ways to build bridges between the rapidly separating continents of mind. Of course some relics will be left behind to despair about the three Rs, bewildered at what is happening around them... but that's okay. They can be the custodians of old knowledge. It's all good. It's all important.

Humanity is embarking on an age where the strangest person in the world will be the one standing beside you. They'll understand concepts completely beyond your wildest imaginings, and likewise you will know things they couldn't hope to comprehend. Such an age will defy uniformity with its chaotic exploration of all the realms of knowledge.

I've often felt that we live in a renaissance now, but the current explosion of knowledge and culture will pale beside what is coming.

Don't let the fear mongers make you want to retreat. It's natural to feel unsettled by it; all generations have felt changes were happening uncomfortably fast. Prepare for the whirlwind. This is going to be the ride of your life.

Comments

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

I'm excited...

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Me too.

Some of the 3D stuff I'm learning at the moment just lifts the top of my head off in utter delight. I just wish I could gobble it all up, but my mind is noticeably slowing with age, damn it! Fifty isn't the middle of our life. My guess is that the middle would be somewhere in our teens, when we are still learning at breakneck speed and begin to have sufficient breadth of knowledge to really start connecting things up, synthesising new stuff. Somewhere after that our brains' neurons begin to change some of their receptors so that learning slows. That change brings different abilities and perspectives, but I so wish I could still learn like I used to. I'd love to be at the tsunami's wavefront, surfing the crest, wind in my hair. I have to be content with rowing as fast as I can and being swept along behind, breathless, and eyes a-goggle with the wonder and increasing speed of it all.

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

Oi, oi, shoot, I'm sailing right through adolescence! So I'll have to make sure that I'm learning loads, too. Smile. I feel as though I am. I hope to continue learning as I grow older. I want to be a student until the day I die.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Here is a very cool piece about how our neural receptors change with age:
http://www.bumc.bu.edu/www/busm/pharmacology/tsien/pdf_files/tsien2000sci_am62.pdf
(If the pdf is no longer there let me know and I'll put it up on my site for you.)

And here is an uplifting piece about Phyllis Turner, a 94 year old woman who has just got her Masters degree in Medicine. She is the oldest person to ever do so. She dropped out of school at 12 years old to help her Mum, then returned to school at age 70, topped her year with her writing and gained an honours in Anthropology at age 90. She certainly isn't letting age slow her down too much. Imagine how society could have used someone like her if she hadn't needed to pause her formal education at 12 years old. (Poverty sucks.)
http://www.happynews.com/news/832007/94-year-old-graduates-master.htm
http://community.elearners.com/blogs/inspiration_for_education/archive/2007/08/11/World_2700_s-Oldest-Gets-Master_2700_s-Degree.aspx

Prill Boyle has a blog and a book about women who go on to great things in later life (the address below is her entry about Phyllis Turner)
http://defyinggravitynow.blogspot.com/2007/08/phyllis-turner-94.html

Keep that mind active and questing. :)

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately I don't have time to read all that as I have a paper due tomorrow that I need to write up, but it all sounds fascinating and I will keep the comment saved. =).

I plan to keep this mind active and questing (and questioning!) just...after I sleeeeep. xD.

Grin.

Thanks!

[clubhopper15.livejournal.com]

You're right, it's really exciting. That's one of the things I look forward to most - learning more. Like cranky_crocus, I probably will be a student till the day I die. I love it!

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Excellent!

Lucky for you there might not have to be an end. While I will probably not live to see it, you probably will: your generation may well be the first immortals. Various strands of research make it likely that you may not need to ever end learning and creating. I wish I could get to see it, and maybe I will, however it looks like it will be another 50 or so years away and I doubt I'll last that long.

If I lived to be a thousand years old I'd still only be able to learn and do a tiny fraction of what I want.

[sigh] What a wonderful time to be alive.

[cranky--crocus.livejournal.com]

-High fives.-

It's the best way to go!

I'm hopeful

[revbobbob.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much, Miriam, for that hope and for the enthusiasm. Alliances and friendships are dissolving so much that limits us. I too intend to have an enthusiasmic life until I crumble and the dust blows away.

Re: I'm hopeful

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

I soooo wish I could see what is coming in another 50 years. It feels like a great injustice that I'll miss out. :)

If we play our cards right the younger generations alive now will see humanity step up to a level difficult for us even to imagine. I'd give almost anything to witness that.