Monday, September 26, 2005
Larger Freedoms - Reflections on a knowledge-based universe
For some time the vision of larger freedon - - the central theme of a major report by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan release on the Spring Equinox 2005 and titled In larger freedom: Towards development, security and human rights for all - has been resonating for me in the context of my growing appreciation of the larger freedoms of the digital knowledge-based universe.
For several years it has been clear to me that one of the phemonenal characteristics of the vast information universe that is opening up to humanity is a freedom from the constraints of the laws of conservation of energy and mass. For information has zero mass and zero physical size - e.g. a blank CD or DVD weighs just the same as one that if chock full of words, images and sounds. With the increased avalability and speed of data transmission, the time that it takes information to travel is asymptotically approaching zero.
For the exponentially increasing number of people who have access to the Internet, these properties of information offer vast freedoms - freedom of the press, perhaps best exemplified by the phenomenon of the blog; freedom of expression, where the Internet can be appreciated as a vast canvas on which thoughts, ideas, visions, images and sounds can be painted and sculpted in ways never before accessible; freedom of association, making it possible to associate - and engaage in dialogue - with people and organizations throughout the world; freedom to be part of local, national and global communities - all without ever having to leave the confines of our own home.
This blog space is dedicated to demonstrating - and deepening an appreciation for - these larger freedoms, and to exploring how an articulation of the nature and qualities of these freedoms can become an integral part of the 60th Anniversary Gift for the United Nations Community that is being prepared for release on October 24, 2005 - United Nations Day.
For several years it has been clear to me that one of the phemonenal characteristics of the vast information universe that is opening up to humanity is a freedom from the constraints of the laws of conservation of energy and mass. For information has zero mass and zero physical size - e.g. a blank CD or DVD weighs just the same as one that if chock full of words, images and sounds. With the increased avalability and speed of data transmission, the time that it takes information to travel is asymptotically approaching zero.
For the exponentially increasing number of people who have access to the Internet, these properties of information offer vast freedoms - freedom of the press, perhaps best exemplified by the phenomenon of the blog; freedom of expression, where the Internet can be appreciated as a vast canvas on which thoughts, ideas, visions, images and sounds can be painted and sculpted in ways never before accessible; freedom of association, making it possible to associate - and engaage in dialogue - with people and organizations throughout the world; freedom to be part of local, national and global communities - all without ever having to leave the confines of our own home.
This blog space is dedicated to demonstrating - and deepening an appreciation for - these larger freedoms, and to exploring how an articulation of the nature and qualities of these freedoms can become an integral part of the 60th Anniversary Gift for the United Nations Community that is being prepared for release on October 24, 2005 - United Nations Day.
