Redesigning Internet and Facebook to Explore Their Full Potentialities...

By: Dr_R_M_Mathew

... and Empower the Humanity with Knowledge for Finding Solutions for Its Problems

Internet and Social Medias have reached their saturation point under their existing framework of data sharing and communications. At the same time, they are using only less than five per cent of their actual potentialities for their over-dependence on Data. Here the causalities are of course Knowledge, Visions and Dreams.

Unless these questions are addressed properly and immediately, the Humanity will be a great risk affecting its abilities of adaptability, innovation and risk taking besides the total brake down of the Internet and Social Medias that may happen at any time. This will have wider social implications affecting the entire business and economic field besides wiping out some well-known companies and prolonging the Global Economic Crisis.

This is not mere a technological or operational issue, but basically a strategic and methodological question requiring a deeper understanding of the nature and purpose of Data, Information, Knowledge, Education and Social Applications. This article is written on the basis of more than thirty five years of research on diverse areas conducted by the author.

Internet

Over and above the defense purposes, the early form of Internet had mainly been confined to Data Transfer or Communication of Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) across countries, even without the knowledge of the Governments. During 1984-85, there were several international conferences on Trans Broader Data Flow in which this author had  presented some papers.

Later, the Internet became everybody's easy and cheap means of communications thanks to the development of the web technology, search engines, cloud computing and etc. Along with it some well-known companies like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Twitter and etc had emerged after the burst of hundreds of Dot Com Companies in 2001.

Facebook

Facebook was originally created to chat or communicate between a small group of boys and girls in the college campus. However, without changing much of its original structure, it has been put for meeting, sharing and communicating between friends, including rediscovering old friends and creating new friends or groups on a global scale.

As such, nobody takes Facebook seriously other than sharing or communicating some lighter or funny moments or events, including photos and albums. If we study its contents, it can be proved. However, the Arab Youth discovered some of the unexplored potentialities of Facebook or Twitter to express their suppressed Anger, Protests, Hopes, Frustrations and above all the Feelings of Love and Oneness that lead to the Jasmine Revolution, though later Islamic Fundamentalists Hijacked the Revolutions and turned the history backwards. Over and above sharing data or information, to a very limited scale, Facebook has been utilized for sharing Knowledge and Enlightening People. At the same time, it is also used for Spreading Hates, Terror and Fundamentalism and Creating Clashes between people and shedding blood.

Data & Information

Internet is growing fast just like a rough and non-navigable ocean filled with heaps and heaps of Data and Information. In spite of several Search Engines, advances in Artificial Intelligence, Semantic Computing, Data Mining.... People are using a very small fraction of Data or Information available in the net; over 95% is used rarely or occasionally -the huge wastage of human efforts, technology and money.

Knowledge

As a person who had formulated two early theories in Informatics as early as 1984, known in his own names (Mathew's Theories) and presented several international papers for world or strategic conferences on Informatics or Information Technology for Development, besides guiding several doctoral works on the applications of Information Technology, the author is very much concerned about KNOWLEDGE rather than mere Data or Information, though for many, including professionals and educated people, they are same. Except some Philosophers, Psychologists and Educators, nobody has made much serious study on Knowledge.

Nature of Knowledge

So I ventured to study Knowledge. To understand Knowledge, a series of detailed studies have been conducted on the Bible, the Koran, the Vedas and Upanishads, besides Classics and Modern Science so as to get an idea of how Knowledge is Structured or Organized, how the Specific Context and Meanings have been attributed; how Knowledge is Represented and Communicated, rather than getting Knowledge That was really a Herculean Task to navigate in the rough sea of Knowledge or Ignorance single handedly.

Interest has been focused on the Nature, Structure, Properties, Processing, Organizing and Transfer or Communication and Applications of the vast depositories of Knowledge created by the Humanity. Knowledge is scattered in millions of books, documents, files, thousands of libraries besides in the Internet and Computers and the Brains of the People, especially the Great Scholars, Thinkers, Teachers, Experts, Professionals, Master Craftsmen and etc.

Building Blocks

The building blocks of Knowledge are concepts which have independent meaning. Each concept has several dimensions, intensity of meaning and they are Non-Linear and Dynamic. On the other hand, the building blocks of Data is bits or bytes which do not have any meaning; they are one-dimensional. That is why Knowledge gives meaning, relevance and contexts for Data or Information. Without Knowledge, Data or Information has no meaning, even if Strategic.

Knowledge Consumption–Production

Further research has been conducted in treating knowledge, though intangible, as a commodity or product by categorization and brings them under quantitative and qualitative measurement. This has helped understand the Knowledge Consumption- Production pattern and behavior of different types of people, starting from the very Common people, including Illiterates, besides Elementary, High School, College and University Students and Teachers, besides the Decision-Makers, Professionals, Scientists and etc.

Education

Education can be considered an enterprise mainly dealing with Consumption and Production of Knowledge, including Application and Skill Acquisition, though it has other objectives like personality development and value formulation. All these aspects have been discussed in my or Mathew's Theories of Knowledge Consumption-Production Growth. Even a handful of doctoral works have been  appeared based on these theories and their applications in Augmenting Skill Acquisitions and Scientific Productivity.

Information Technology

It is found that Information Technology has been designed only for dealing or handling with Data and Information and not Knowledge and Education. The simple reason is IT is built up on the Algorithms based on Data Structure and not Knowledge or Thinking Structure. Data Structure is Linear and Static while Knowledge Structure is Non-Linear and Dynamic. While applying IT in Education, Decision-Making and Scientific Research, it cannot go on after a certain limit that is within the limit of Data. That is why; in spite of investing billions for Applying IT in Education, Scientific Research, Decision -Making and Professional Services, we could not make any Revolution other than some minor adjustments and white washing.

Knowmatics

We need New Algorithms based on Knowledge and Thinking Structure so as to Transform Information Processing Technology into a Knowledge Processing Technology - from IT to KT. As a first step, in 2005, I propounded KNOWMATICS- Mathematics and Cybernetics of Knowledge and also developed a framework for Dynamic Knowledge Bank that may have wonderful potentialities of making a Revolution in Education, Scientific Research, Professional Services besides making the entire Social Production Processes Knowledge Intensive.

However, the Society has not yet prepared enough to make use of the work. This could be made more evident, when I submitted a paper ' Knowmatics - A New Revolution in Higher Education' in 2009 for the World Universities Forum (comes under the World Economic Forum). It took nearly two years for them to complete its Referring Process, as their Professors and Experts from several countries could not make a proper assessment of the work. Any way, it was presented for its Hong Kong Conference held in 2011. The link of its YouTube video is : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p0SXqRuVT )

Knowmatics offers new key of the future, as it can revolutionize Education, Professional Services and makes the present Information Technology based Industries and Business as well as Universities obsolete. Besides it can empower the Masses, even Illiterate with Knowledge so that Knowledge can be made free or de-linked from Educational Qualifications or Institutions, even Universities.

Efficiency and Effectiveness

In the entire Human History, Education is the only Industry or Enterprise remained without any Revolution for the last 2600 years, though Agriculture, Industry and almost all other trades have undergone so many Revolutions. Our schools, colleges, universities, teachers, professors, students and researchers including in the high-tech universities, even in the 21st century, blindly and sacredly or religiously follow the same old method, approach, philosophy and organizational structures developed by Aristotle for his Academy at Greece or Athens by 600 BC. Nobody dares to question or redesign them, even the Revolutionaries.

Universities

A university is basically an assemblage of a group of professors well-versed in certain well- specified areas of knowledge charged to impart their knowledge to a group of young men and women on the one hand and to create or add some new knowledge either in their specified areas or other areas in collaboration with young learners and scholars, using libraries, laboratories, computers or internet. In short they engaged in the Consumption and Production of Knowledge.

But their efficiency and productivity is always sub-optimal. There is no justification for spending so much time and energy and investing and spending so much money for such a small quantity of substandard or irrelevant knowledge and information. If we apply the principles, methods and practices of Knowmatics, a tenfold increase in Knowledge Consumption and Production can be made.

Dynamic Knowledge Bank

A Dynamic Knowledge Bank or Mega Knowledge Corporation can be set up with the cost of one or two traditional Universities and bring the effects of at least a thousand universities or more by defining the very Concept, Philosophy, Approach and Practices of Universities and Schools.

Upgrade Facebook

It is suggested at least upgrading Information Technology and making it for Knowledge Processing and Handling. Even the Facebook can be redesigned or upgraded as a tool for Empowering the Humanity with Knowledge - augmenting Knowledge Consumption and Production of each and every individual so as to make Agriculture, Industry, Services, including Education and Professional Services Knowledge Intensive. At present, the Humanity is using less than 5% of the Knowledge Created so far.

Knowledge Revolution

If the knowledge hungry people, including the illiterate farmers, workers, slum dwellers, fishermen besides the New Generation of the Youth and Women, are fed with digestible and easy to apply Knowledge, they can bring Revolutions in every sphere of life. In our existing system, people having knowledge are fed with further knowledge so that nobody can grasp or digest or put them into applications. We have to ensure that over and above the most familiar knowledge, everybody must be motivated to explore new frontiers of knowledge besides making such knowledge accessible either freely or affordable cost.

My recent writings on these topics appeared in the Market Oracle (UK) can be found with the help of the following link: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/UserInfo-Dr_R_M_Mathew.html

Prof. (Dr.) Raju M. Mathew

© 2015 Copyright Dr. Raju M. Mathew - All Rights Reserved

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