Table Of ContentGlobal Knowledge Dynamics and
Social Technology
ThomasPetzold
Global Knowledge
Dynamics and Social
Technology
ThomasPetzold
UniversityofAppliedSciencesforMedia,
CommunicationandBusinessAdministration
(HMKW)
Berlin,Germany
ISBN978-3-319-41233-7 ISBN978-3-319-41234-4(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-41234-4
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P : H U T
ROLOGUE OW TO NLEASH THE RUE
M K !
OMENTUM OF NOWLEDGE
Imagineyouareonajourneyandyouaresomewherereally,reallyremote.
You are surrounded by stunning landscapes and an endless horizon. It is
quiet and beautiful. Yet you’ve got no time to enjoy the surroundings
because your car broke down, you have hardly any water, and you have
almost no food left. What you reallyneed in thissituation is local knowl-
edgeabout where andhowto findsomething todrinkandeat (Fig. 1)1.
...Of course,whenyoutravelinremotepartsoftheworldtoday,you
carry a satellite mobile device with you. So, you could google it. But
chances are high that you may not find the most suitable information—
that is, local knowledge from people who have lived in this part of the
worldforaverylongtime.Localknowledgeisstoredinmorethan6,000
Fig. 1 Dependency from local knowledge. (Illustration by Sven-Norman
Bommes-Böhmig)
Transcript from the author’s TED Talk, Berlin, 23 November 2012; available
from:http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxBerlin-Thomas-Petzold-36-2.
v
vi PROLOGUE:HOWTOUNLEASHTHETRUEMOMENTUMOFKNOWLEDGE!
Fig. 2 Local knowledge in more than 6,000 languages. (Illustration by Sven-
NormanBommes-Böhmig)
languages and companies like Google are really going to great lengths to
allowyou tosearchforknowledge in manylanguages (Fig. 2).
...But when we consider that the number of languages that search
giants like Google support accounts for less than five per cent of the
world’s 6,000 languages, we can see why it is likely that you won’t find
the most suitable information when your car breaks down somewhere in
the middleof nowhere(Fig. 3).
...So, language is a really powerful force—it is the key to knowledge
andthereforethekeytosurvival.Languageisacomplexcodesystemthat
humans have developed over centuries. Initially, language ensured the
survival of our species because it enabled our ancestors to organise in
largegroups, forexample,to huntdowngiantanimals (Fig.4).
...Nowadays, we use language to collaborate with each other and
to share ideas. We use language to survive in our modern societies and
to improve our daily lives. With language we’ve managed to use
existing ideas and knowledge in new ways. We see this through the
economy where new inventions or improvements are created by build-
ing an idea on top of another idea. The same is true for science,
technology, sport, culture, and many other domains. We have come
so far as human beings, societies, nations, groups, and corporations
because we have used language to build on each other’s ideas and
knowledge (Fig. 5).
PROLOGUE:HOWTOUNLEASHTHETRUEMOMENTUMOFKNOWLEDGE! vii
Fig. 3 How language shapes knowledge. (Illustration by Sven-Norman
Bommes-Böhmig)
Fig.4 Languageasanevolutionary,complexcodesystem.(IllustrationbySven-
NormanBommes-Böhmig)
viii PROLOGUE:HOWTOUNLEASHTHETRUEMOMENTUMOFKNOWLEDGE!
Fig.5 Globalevolutionofideasandknowledge.(IllustrationbySven-Norman
Bommes-Böhmig)
PROLOGUE:HOWTOUNLEASHTHETRUEMOMENTUMOFKNOWLEDGE! ix
Fig.6 Diversityofknowledge.(IllustrationbySven-NormanBommes-Böhmig)
Fig. 7 Technology and access to knowledge. (Illustration by Sven-Norman
Bommes-Böhmig)
...Thesameistrueforpeoplewholiveintheveryremoteplacesaround
the world; those people who we would like to call on when our car broke
down.Theycarryaroundatreasuretroveofknowledgethatcouldbevital
tous,justlikesomeofourknowledgecouldbevitaltothem(Fig.6).
...We’ve all seen images of a farmer in a remote part of the world
holding a mobile device and often assume that he or she has access to a
web of knowledge just like we do. But this is a very romantic image
because the technology alone does not allow you to access knowledge—
it’sthe languagethatdoes (Fig.7).
...Now,aslongaswehaveborders,suchasthefarmer’slanguagenot
beingsupportedbythetechnology,orhedoesn’tunderstandEnglishlike
we don’t understand his language we cannot share ideas with each other
andbuildoneachother’sknowledge—somethingthatcouldbesocrucial
forsurvival(Fig. 8).
...But now imagine that we could connect these treasure troves of
knowledge thatwebothhold. Hecould tap intoour knowledge justlike
wecould access his(Fig.9).
x PROLOGUE:HOWTOUNLEASHTHETRUEMOMENTUMOFKNOWLEDGE!
Fig. 8 Knowledge and localisation. (Illustration by Sven-Norman Bommes-
Böhmig)
Fig. 9 Networks of knowledge. (Illustration by Sven-Norman Bommes-
Böhmig)
...To do so we need to connect the languages—we need to form
languagepairs—sothatitbecomespossibletobundleourandhisknowl-
edge.Andwhenwecombinenotonlythefarmer’sandourlanguagebut
also all of the 6,000 languages, we will have created 36 million language
pairs (Fig.10).
