varieties of knowledge-access regimes

Groups with greater social investment tend to favor more restrictive access to knowledge.  Greater social investment means more connections with socially credible and authoritative persons and groups, and greater material interests in maintaining those connections.  Social investment supports credibility and authority.  So too does knowledge (“knowledge is power”). However, persons who are neither credible nor … Continue reading varieties of knowledge-access regimes

email and telephone policy

My thinking and creativity here, as valuable or invaluable as it is, I offer freely to everyone. If you have a question regarding some topics that this blog addresses, please ask the question as a comment to the relevant blog post. I will respond with a comment or blog post in accordance with my interest, … Continue reading email and telephone policy

communicative calculus in science

The brilliant Michael Nielsen observes: The contrast between the science comment sites and the success of the amazon.com reviews is stark. To pick just one example, you’ll find approximately 1500 reviews of Pokemon products at amazon.com, more than the total number of reviews on all the scientific comment sites I described above. The disincentives facing … Continue reading communicative calculus in science