Global thinking

In the wide web world knowledge is more dynamic than ever. We discussed the issue and more with Roberto Galimberti, President of Etnoteam, Italy’s leading webdesign and information and communications technology company.

To what extent is the net a source of new knowledge?
Our time is often referred to as the “Age of Cognition”. What’s meant by this definition? It’s not as if knowledge was lacking in other societies before ours. Just think of all the great Ancient Greek philosophers. But there are times when knowledge is in greater supply as a commodity, more easily accessible, and circulates more widely and faster. The great seafaring expeditions of discovery of the past and the invention of the printing press represent such turning points in history. Today, knowledge and know-how are without a doubt assets. The remarkable speed of circulation thanks to the net was unthinkable just several years ago, and is indeed unprecedented. New knowledge has been spawned by this acceleration. The opportunity of quickly getting to once inaccessible information or information that one didn’t even know existed favours the birth of new ideas, new outlooks.

Mightn’t information overload actually turn out to be detrimental to the advancement of knowledge?
No, I wouldn’t say it’s detrimental; it’s noise, irksome perhaps, but one soon adapts.
The fact is that the amount of information download depends on one’s attitude and approach. I use the mail in real time and am able to select the information I want to receive. It’s no good being compulsive; one can easily end up downloading too much information that’s of no use at all. I’m a regular library goer and enjoy browsing about in bookstores, so I know how to find my way around, where to head for for a bargain, the right shelves where to find the books and authors I want. In a nut shell, I’ve learnt to be selective. I relate to the web in the same way –no different. There’s no need to be apprehensive or stressed about too much information coming in, just selective when downloading.

How will the organisation of society be affected in the information age?
I’m a firm believer in freedom, equality, and justice. Freedom is rooted in the ability to reason critically; informed and critical thinking is free by definition. The advancement of freedom goes hand in hand with that of knowledge, so that improvements in the social sphere, where universal brotherhood should be the ideal yardstick, may be expected to spring from such an association. But the economic sphere also stands to gain, for greater equality means more opportunities for all. The impetus to freedom conferred by more knowledge and its fairer distribution can definitely have a beneficial effect. It will help to overcome the social and economic barriers that have so far inhibited many from making the most of their lives.
The freedom of the web can indeed lead to intemperance, scattering a deluge of messages far and wide that are hard to cope with. This is presently the prevailing scenario. The only way to avoid the risk of burnout due to information overload is to have a good general education system to build up a wide knowledge base to start with. We’ve so far only nibbled at the reality confronting us. We’re bound to the past because we find it reassuring. Even minor changes to our routine cause us to panic, easily sparking a widespread negative reaction.

O.K., so we have information being exchanged on a global scale but in a physically fragmented scenario, made up of so many different countries, nations, individuals, all far less flexible than the web.
There’s got to be a mind-frame leap; we’ve got to start thinking globally. Knowledge by chunks and morsels won’t do anymore.
Shutting oneself up in a room and reading thousands of books isn’t going to turn me into an individual with a well rounded education and it’s not going to improve my understanding and grasp of reality. Being cultured means first and foremost being able to relate. It means having respect for the other and being keenly interested in what the other has to say. That’s essentially what the web is supposed to be all about.

In what way does enterprise bend knowledge to its utilitarian purposes?
If it’s really enterprise we’re talking about then we’re talking ethics. Genuine enterprise is not out to make a quick buck but to generate wealth, and genuine wealth cannot but be ethical. My grandfather used to call it “honesty.” Why waste words? “Honesty” is just as good a definition today as it was yesterday.

Do you think the modern-day business enterprise is in a position to put forward propositions beyond the economic field, suggesting new forms of social organisation or solutions to social problems?
What’s needed are entrepreneurs capable of a vision, with a prospective. They may be rare, but some there are.
We frequently hear talk of fundamentals. Well, the fundamental here is: “profit’s fine as long as it’s honest”.
There’s nothing more to be said. It all boils down to creating wealth honestly. Knowing how to do one’s job well and honestly, with conviction and commitment and an undimmed desire to always learn, to always go after and acquire new knowledge and to find pleasure and self gratification in doing so is at the heart of the matter. Moving into a global frame of mind is quite feasible because it’s in the very nature of human beings to want and to strive to know as much as possible of their surroundings, of the world they live in. Today there’s a tool that can favour this innate tendency. Let’s learn to use it well. There’s no need to be know-alls; there’s a mission for each and every one of us and we each have personal endowments and characteristics that may be turned into assets.

Where’s all this continuous innovation that the consumer often finds hard to cope or even merely keep up with heading?
I always remember the story of how polio was beaten because the vaccine’s inventor, Albert Sabin, refused to patent it. It’d be great if all such momentous discoveries were open-source, but it’ll take time. It needs a radical change in attitude and consciousness. The web is just a small, first step in the direction of pooling and sharing intellectual resources on a global scale. Indeed, its status will soon be like that of the telephone or television.
Technology-wise it’ll turn out to be commonplace, practically a household appliance. It’s the social contents that go into and come out of it that count; they can turn it into a genuine breakthrough. Its potential is still all waiting to be discovered and fully unleashed. There’s a lot of work out their for upcoming generations.

Do you envisage radical social changes?
The first history-making and – breaking revolution 10,000 years ago was in agriculture.
Since then and up to the industrial age information management patterns and techniques and its circulation within the body social stayed more or less the same. Today we’re on the verge of a great social revolution because, unlike in the past, what’s at stake is the very way in which we communicate. In the future education will have to be permanent; learning will be ongoing throughout an individual’s life span. We’ll have to get used to the idea of changing jobs every five to ten years.

Is there a good read you may like to recommend to help us continue learning?
“Globalisation and its Opponents” by Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize winner for economics in 2001, may still be considered the cornerstone on the subject. It describes globalisation in clear and forthright terms. It’s an excellent read and so far hasn’t been superseded, despite being published in 2002. I say it hasn’t been “superseded” and “despite” because being up-todate is today a short-lived condition like never before.