A University Without A Campus

I used to work for Kaplan College, they are an online university. I was an Admission Advisor (salesperson truly). I talked to people about going to school and why going to an online school might benefit them. I saw working at a digital college as a step forward for humans. The ability to acquire knowledge in a more efficient manner by people located wherever they might be. This is a significant concept because, truly, what are human beings (as opposed to homo sapien sapien) other than our culture? Let one of us grow up with wolves, and we will be a wolf.

Shai Reshef wants to take the online education a bit farther by making a university degree free. My monkey-brained capitalist tendencies ask why would someone give something away for free? But then my human-brained capitalist tendencies look far beyond the single man whose ideas these are and recognizes that a distribution of knowledge the world around on a level like this benefits you, I, Shai, and all of the future so much more.

The Internet, like libraries before them, are in effect free universities that don't give out an official piece of paper at the end of the process. They disperse knowledge, culture, experience, and more of the basic tools to live in this world. Of course giving knowledge to people isn't new - it started when we told tales around the fire, it evolved when we began to write things down, it exploded when we learned about the printing press, and we have continued to speed the dispersion of knowledge through the world with other technologies.

In my mind, the whole idea of needing a piece of paper to represent your knowledge is simply a shortcoming of our ability to communicate who we are and track what we know. If we had the ability to catalog and communicate our skills, knowledge, perceptions, and all else then having a university degree would be meaningless. What would matter is what we have learned in life. Of course, progress is slow and those who make money from the industry are going to fight.

But progress will happen. And you are I are part of it.

Go Facebook!

I like what Facebook is doing (my muse). I have a profile. I like what Google is doing (eternal musings...). I have about 20 tools that I use. I don't mind the data they collect. In fact, I want them to collect it. I want them to analyze it. I want them to know. Who cares about what I buy and what I think about a record or a pair of shoes or whatever stupid pointless consumer item?

Why should I fear knowledge?

I understand the concept of privacy. I understand that one of the standards of negotiations and the ability to win the battle of any situation rests upon the knowledge that is and isn't known. And that if I have given absolute knowledge of me to them then I have started a foot backwards. But what if I disagree with that feudalistic economic system behind that mentality?

What if I am a Capitalist? (and don't be confused by the mixed economic system of the Earth's countries with true Capitalism)

What if I believe that absolutely all knowledge should be disseminated to all. What if I want the record companies and car companies and porn sites to know EXACTLY what I would be interested in buying so that they wouldn't WASTE their resources on me if I wasn't interested? What if ESPN & Google knew 100% of what not to show me? That would be nice. It would seem to make sense that this would benefit me on multiple levels a. lower prices b. better more informative marketing c. better usage of my resources - fewer wasted ad viewings & smarter purchases...

and on some greater level, I can see overall benefit for the whole planet in terms of intelligence as a creature in an of itself with this level of knowledge of ourselves. I picture the Gaia coming to life soon in the information circling us. The first Artificial Intelligence will come from an unsuspecting God who will put together the logic that will learn to live within that knowledge...but thats another story...

Of course Google would never be perfect and there would be that savant programmer who will learn to code just enough randomness into the product placements algorithm that random who the hell knows what will still show up and market me and do well enough to make that person rich, but at least there will be some logic to me and all of the goo surrounding me. It is still just ME who makes the decision. I am accountable for me. I want to be...

This argument of privacy I think, on a fundamental level, is dying away. The only limitations to knowledge distribution should be the speed of light. Some physicists has probably proven that already. If we believe in efficiency and we believe in acting in OUR long term best interests then we believe in letting go of the facts because all of that information bubbling together is so much more valuable.

Imagine there being that giant beast swimming within our giant vat of data. Imagine all of that information saved and not wasted. All of the facts pulled together. All of the ideas pulled together. The scientists discovering things in India and South Africa and Brazil and Mexico and France and Dubai and Siberia all speaking instantly. The people on the streets testing the products communicating back to the labs immediately. From a physical good and service standpoint needs should be no longer need to be communicated.

Kinda scary. I don't trust anyone. I trust my actions though. I trust my motives. And I know we aren't there. And I know the complications of such concepts go far beyond the expressions in this this post. But I do believe that the future hold us moving from the entropy of the universe ever closer to order on a massive scale.