Web of Ideas Discussions
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is starting a discussion series called Web of Ideas.
The first is on Wednesday, Oct. 6, at the Berkman Center at 6 pm. David Weinberger will lead them. They will be about the effect of the Web on how we understand ourselves and our shared world. Each session will begin with a 20 minute discussion-opener, followed by open conversation.
Oct. 6th topic: Objectivity, Truth and Blogs
Wikipedia.org — the grassroots encyclopedia — has frozen edits to the page about George W. Bush because supporters and detractors were revising the page at a head-spinning clip. Wikipedia’s aim is to present an article that contains the core of acknowledged facts about the President, with links to pages that argue many sides of the issue. This assumes that there is an objective core, an idea that dedicated Post-Modernists would dispute. For the rest of us it raises interesting questions about the Web’s effect on authority. Is the multiplicity of voices on the Web in fact leading us to a stronger division between fact and opinion than ever before, rather than the fusing of fact and values some have expected? And is authority moving to groups instead of to individuals? Are we seeing the development of “multi-subjectivity,” that is, webs of subjective commentary that, because of their diverse viewpoints, can “compete for truth” with objective sources. What’s the locus of truth on the Web?
Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend, though I would really like to. I hope someone who goes will blog it.
Addendum 10/8: I spoke to someone who went to this talk. He said David only used this example from Wikipedia to illustrate credibility issues on the Internet and that the talk was not about Wikipedia itself.
