Virtual Knowledge
We have virtualized all our knowledge. Sorry, I mean digitized.
This should mean that (almost) anyone can access (almost) any knowledge at any time.
What an incredible achievement!
Yet somehow doesn't that feel hollow?
Like I didn't say anything wrong, but in spirit what I said rings false?
The knowledge humanity has accumulated over the centuries was not paid for.
The ancient Egyptians aren't paid license fees for Aspirin.
Neither Gutenberg nor the (slightly less) ancient Chinese are paid license fees by HP.
The very idea would probably shock them.
That very idea might very well shock you.
You and I know we cannot access a great sum of human knowledge. It's locked behind subscriptions or memberships. The products of the so-called intelligentsia are obviously too valuable for those of us who cannot afford them. Never mind the fact that without the knowledge of those who came before, they wouldn't even have been able to produce them.
But there's another problem too. While we may not have access to a lot of knowledge, we have access to an overwhelming amount of information. Anyone can say anything and if you look, you can read or hear it. The issue is there is a difference between knowledge and information, but its subtle. And you'd need knowledge to spot it.
We have virtualized all our knowledge.