Greetings, one and all! I am Simon Grant, already known to several Edgeryders, with a looooong history of interdisciplinary and inter-perspectival work. Right now, a couple of things on my mind…
- Linking up non-institutional research networks. We probably all have our complaints about established academia – I certainly do, as a long-term recovering “academic” – but it is fairly clear to me that the way to transcend institutional academia is to provide a viable, widespread, peer-to-peer alternative. Happy to talk about this.
- Knowledge Commons. This is closely related. I see the need for commoning practices which care for a sense of quality and intellectual rigour that is more fluid than that in the establishment world, and even more powerful, not less so. Worth contextualising this immediately, to say that intellectual rigour can only be achieved, in my view, alongside emotional responsibility and maturity, and not (as some intellectual traditions seem to tacitly imply) by abandoning the emotions and in particular the heart, and the perspective of love.
- At the practical technical level, none of the currently available wiki software that I have seen does what is needed to support this knowledge commons. I’m not a software developer myself, but understand enough of it and have dabbled enough with code to be able to have meaningful conversations about how this might be done.
People here are more than welcome to connect. I find it helpful to start with one-to-one conversations, to relate world views and perspectives, and to see what we can offer each other, as well as the greater collective.