Context collapse and crowdsourcing are different sides of the same coming. They both arise from the apotheosis of the collective. The expansion of the collective human intellect is seen in crowdsourcing. In this paradigm, the entire population has access to a problem where they can construct an emergent solution to challenging problems. That way, any lack or issues can be resolved by spreading information and filling holes with one another. This works as sources like YouTube and Wikipedia are often correct and useful. Context collapse, however, is when different contexts are enmeshed into one. Suddenly, we lack privacy because of this conversion, and our bosses can see what we tell our mothers.
That is the price of inclusion and collectivity. In this paradigm, the restrictions to defining and contextualizing are blurred in the name of convenience. Somehow, Plato and Kant did not have to crowdsource their ideas. Would people even have understood it?
The opinion of the masses is a logical fallacy. The myth of the discovered genius who finds the unsolvable problem and miraculously resolves it will never happen. New perspectives may initially bring clarity but are biased by culture. In a positivist paradigm, crowdsourcing is anathema. Let us all remember the brightness of the crowdsourced witch hunts because everybody knows the Bible is true....
Very true -- one's position on crowdsourcing probably reflects their underlying beliefs about knowledge and knowing.
ReplyDelete