Debating the merits of collectivism

Debating the merits of collectivism

August 5th, 2006

If you are looking for some inspiration in asking questions, answering the same, or just some motivational hooks to get your mind thinking in a new direction, try The Edge. It is a loosely organized collection of interesting thinkers who ask each other questions.

One of the recent entries (circa May 2006) is DIGITAL MAOISM: The Hazards of the New Online Collectivism, written by Jaron Lanier. There are a host of responses from others, as well, including Fernanda Viegas, Jimmy Wales (creator of Wikipedia), and online communities researcher Howard Rheingold.

In essence, Lanier criticizes Wikipedia not for its experimentation in collective authorship and shared information but for the excess heaped upon it (and other “hive mind” efforts) as being all-wise. He laments what he sees as a mutually exclusive battle between collectivism and individuals, where anonymity swallows up any recognizable voice. There is some truth to that, and to the observation that groups are not infallible. However, Lanier doesn’t seem to go far in looking for ways in which a medium like a wiki can be a companion to individual contribution.

PoliticWiki began as an experiment in the collective’s take on opinionated events. Unlike Wikipedia, where the stated goals are to amass as much knowledge as possible and present it in the most neutral voice possible, PoliticWiki was looking as a wiki as a new way to discuss politics through editing. The act of editing, of changing a phrase to rearrange the meaning, is a form of dialogue. It carries with it response and proposal, inviting others to do the same. Where the early effort may have failed it lacked leadership, focus and vision. We are not attempting to collect all of the worlds knowledge on politics — even as we do strive to collect some, as a means to our ends. We are attempting to leverage the strengths of the medium — a wiki’s ability to easily facilitate collaborative writing and quickly rearrange structure — to give our community a workspace for our ideas.

For those of you who find yourselves asking, “What is a wiki, and why is it part of Third Party?” the debate above might be helpful. (Or for liks to lighter-side diversion, try this post from my blog.)

Entry Filed under: In the News, Meta