Meeting of the Mind

From the Student as Scholar blog, a .ppt file (OpenOffice Presentation, or Microsoft PowerPoint, if you like capitalist software).  Note especially the slides entitled, “Class collaboration challenges” about the physical issues getting in the way of pure frictionless collaboration; and “Virtual science library ideas” about offering library services in a virtual environment.  The authors’ idea is not to “re-create physical library buildings in a virtual space! [exclamation point original]“  Fine, but where does the spatial model of organizing cognition break down, i.e., isn’t it beneficial to visualize categories or processes in different “rooms”?

A project of the Institute for the Future of the Book, MediaCommons is envisioned as changing the spirit of peer review from “gatekeeping” to collegial support.  Authors can manipulate who sees their creations in this “greenhouse.”  There are metrics, so cold hard reality isn’t really that far away.  But what would a work nurtured in such a protected environment look like when released to the polluted air and non-organic diet of the real world?  Getting out of my league here, but might there be a parallel to the system of human education dedicated to protecting children’s self-esteem to the point of nobody ever losing or hearing a negative thing said about them?

Parisian neighbours meet online, BBC story about Peuplade, putting urban denizens in touch with each other, since close geographical proximity alone does not get diverse people talking with each other.

Are city environments necessary?  Probably, Slashdotters say.  Richard Florida suggests so in Rise of the creative class : and how it’s transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. He’s the one who posits a correlation between the “gay index” and the “high-tech index,” which is of course disputed by straight people who point to productivity in sterile suburban research parks full of white male patriarchalists (who do respect new ideas.  Up to a point.)  But some kind of permeability of boundaries seems to be necessary for social networking to build innovative and technical productivity.