256626 Knowledge Machine Part I

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Knowledge Machine/Bruce LaDuke Page 1

Knowledge Machine

Cooperative Knowledge working, Anti-Knowledge,

and Radical Knowledge Creation

By Bruce LaDuke

[email protected]

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Disclaimer

I wrote a precursor to this book in 1991 entitled Perpetual Renaissance, The Creativity

Question Answered and wrote this more comprehensive version in 2003. Some of the material

is obviously dated and some of the content is difficult to follow, but I publish this for posterity and

because the content is still very useful and fairly accurate. The next generation of this work can

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Table of Contents

License ............................................................................................................................................. .......2Disclaimer ................................................................................................................................ ..............2Preface A Brave New World ............................................................................................................. 4

Part I Cooperative Knowledge Working .................................................................................... .............. ..7

Introduction Knowledge Sphere ............................................................................................. .........7Chapter 1 Knowledge Interactions ............................................................................ ......... ...........10Chapter 2 The Semiotic Universe and Language ............................................................... ..... .....34Chapter 3 Quantum Knowledge Structure ......................................................................... ..... .....56Chapter 4 The Philosophy of Knowledge ...................................................................... ...............75Chapter 5 Knowledge Chaos and the Global Dictionary ............................................... ..... ......102

Important Note: The first five chapters of this book are written to lay groundwork for an advanced

understanding of knowledge working. These chapters will at times seem to state the obvious and at times

will be a paradigm shift that is very difficult to comprehend. Keep in mind that the intent is to establish a

framework of common terms and concepts that individuals across disciplines can interpret. In so doing,

some paradigms need to be dismantled.

You will also find many definitions and advanced definitions in these chapters as I unearth fallacy and

build a common set of terms to describe knowledge working concepts. Chapter 5 is a summary of this

groundwork contains radical departures from current views of the philosophy of knowledge. The final two

chapters will tie all of this groundwork together into a powerful knowledge creation theory with very

specific methods.


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Preface A Brave New World

Here the people could stand it no longer and complained of the long voyage; but the Admiral

cheered them as best he could, holding out good hope of the advantages they would have. He

added that it was useless to complain, he had come [to go] to the Indies, and so had to continue it

until he found them, with the help of Our Lord. -- Christopher Columbus, Journal of the First

Voyage

The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high

with difficulty, and we must rise to the new occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew

and act anew. -- Abraham Lincoln

The cowards never started and the fearful died along the way. -- Kit Carson

As the early settlers came to Americas shores it was very evident that there was something eventful that

they happened upon and they had only scratched the surface of this massive land. Beyond the shore lay

a potentially hostile world or perhaps a veritable paradise, but which one was uncertain.

As they faced a brave new world, there were three classes of people that came to light:

The pioneers who cleared the trail and reaped the benefit.

The settlers who followed the trail that was cleared and also reaped the benefit.

The cowards who stayed home and reaped no benefits.

At pivotal times in developing history mankind must step out beyond the mundane, traditional, typical, and

normal to pioneer a trail and lay claim to territories not previously tread upon or perhaps to regain territory

now buried with an ancient civilization.

Few are of the character and courage to step out into a potentially hostile world and put forth their

strength to clear the trail for settlers.

They look off at the rolling hills of thick wilderness and turn back to the comforts of what they know and

what is sure. Fear paralyzes them and brings them to nothing. Their own minds have bound them in the

fetters of normalcy. Enslaved by the taskmaster of the status quo, unable to move forward, stagnated.

Life becomes a maintenance process and the spark of adventure is past.


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The pioneer must move forward with a dream and a hope of a better life. The pioneer steps out and puts

the past in the past. Without the support of the masses and with the air full of uncertainty and risk, the

pioneer moves forwardlittle knowing that someday a massive train of settlers will follow this lead with a

rush into a brave new world.

Such is life. You are never too old, never too young, never too poor and never too disadvantaged to step

out on a dream and create a new reality for you and your posterity.

There is vast potential beyond this book and many will pioneer the trail, but on the other side of a thick

wilderness rests the exciting potential of rapidly accelerated innovation and discovery. This principle is

the basis of a new era of cooperative knowledge working that will bring the information age to a close.

This book is a slow read. The book is very concise, but contains a great deal of new knowledge. This

requires very deliberate study as you read because the book challenges many commonly acceptedparadigms. In addition, this book is written around definitions and the advance of these definitions. This

definition cycle is a key facet of futuristic cooperative knowledge working. Key points and key questions

are emphasized throughout the work.

Both fundamental and historically perplexing questions will be answered in this book. Some examples

include:

Is there a unified theory of knowledge?

What is science and technology and where is it going?

What is knowledge and where does it come from?

How do human beings create and innovate?

What is a question?

What is a definition?

How does tacit knowledge interact with the global intellect?

Can tacit knowledge be explicit?

What makes visual communication (as opposed to verbal communication) so powerful?

Why is brainstorming useful as a creative problem solving method? How does it work?

What are the common mechanisms of action for all creative problem-solving methods?

Which is correct in the age-old philosophical argument, rationalism or empiricism?

What is the primary weakness in the modern concept of logic?

How can one innovate with the precision of scientific method?


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What is creativity? What is knowledge creation? What is innovation? What is genius?

How can an individual or enterprise be trained to become a genius?

What is learning and how can an individual or organization accelerate it?

What will future training look like?

How can a machine create and discover information?

What is a global brain? What is a global intellect? How can these be created?

Prepare yourself for an exciting, wonderful and very unorthodox journey into our mental universe as we

ask these questions and more!


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Part I Cooperative Knowledge Working

Introduction Knowledge Sphere

Our global society has made incredible advances, but one could argue that, as a global society, we really

dont understand the global mechanisms and interactions that fuel this advance.

The global brain has become a bit of a clich today, but it is critically important to realize that just as there

is a distinction between the individual brain and the intellect, there is also a distinction between the global

brain and global intellect.

Advanced Definitions

The Global Intellect the sum of all we know as a global society. This knowledge may or may not

be globally accessible to all individuals in that society. This knowledge is one, but today resides

in silo knowledge domains that tend to cause confusion, duplication of concepts, information

overload, etc.

The Global Brain The sum of knowledge collected and stored by a society or social group. Also

known as extrasomatic knowledge, or knowledge stored outside the brain.

The global brain is the global storage capacity and the global intellect is global content/global knowledge.

Individual interactions with the global brain are quite complex, but the global brain itself is structured and

impersonal. This cold and logical mammoth is formed through the knowledge creation process and is

utilized and sustained by other knowledge interactions.

The global intellect operates by the same principles as an individual intellect. The social intellect thinks,remembers, learns, etc. It is composed of various social intellects, each society having a differing or

unique level of accomplishmenteach makes a distinct contribution to the whole.

Consider the global brain as a massive sphere containing the collective knowledge or intellect of society.

The sphere is comprised of billions upon billions of structured and interconnected triadic molecular

connections which represent knowledge elements. This structured behemoth is so massive that it is


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literally impossible for a single individual, or even a large group, to retain the whole. Such a massive

entity demands cooperative efforts to manage it and advance itcooperative knowledge working.

Imagine next billions of smaller brains that are also comprised of structured and interconnected triadic

molecular connections. These smaller spheres vary in size and capability and represent the individual

human brain/intellect. The individual brain/intellect (or smaller spheres) sporadically interacts with this

larger sphere, extracting and adding information (triadic molecular connections) to the larger sphere.

The larger sphere is representative of the global brain that holds explicit knowledge and the smaller

spheres are representative of individual brains that hold tacit knowledge (Figure 1:1). The concepts of

tacit and explicit knowledge will be explored further in a later chapter on knowledge management

fallacies. For now, we will build upon this analogy to better understand the global brain and global

intellect.

Figure 0:1

To create the proper focus we need to understand the goal of all of these interactions. Often there are

many personal goals or group goals that might thwart this overarching goal, but idealistically the goal is

advance of the global intellect and expansion of the global brain.


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Four primary forces combine to create the state of intellectual advance in any society.

1. Knowledge interactions Individual interactions with knowledge structure of the global brain,

including knowledge creation, the primary interaction required for knowledge advance.

2. Knowledge structure Logically structured knowledge within the global intellect.

3. Language The vehicle for knowledge transport.

4. Lack of knowledge structure Error, chaos, fallacy, information overload, complexity,

confusion, or any factor that contributes to an illogical, duplicative, or non-existent knowledge

structure.

Structure and lack of knowledge structure diametrically oppose one another. Likewise, if knowledge

interactions are not agreed upon and cooperative, they can also oppose knowledge structure. It is

important to not that none of these forces is negative, but the key to social advance is a harmonious

relationship of all three.

This book then, is about how to advance any society. In many ways it is specific to scientific and

technological advance, but could be loosely applied to other types of advance (social, spiritual, etc.).

Several keys will be emphasized as we progress: These include the criticality of cooperative knowledge

working, a full understanding of knowledge creation, and the introduction of the powerful concept of anti-

knowledge.


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Chapter 1 Knowledge Interactions

Knowledge interactions are a breakdown of the processes that need to operate cooperatively for social

intellectual advance to occur. To misunderstand or disagree on these roles causes the social intellect to

become chaotic and to devolve.

For example, one might interpret the knowledge creation interaction as being synonymous with, or

including, the learning interaction. As another example, one might confuse memory with recollection.

Failing to effectively identify and define these interactions can propagate intellectual confusion, because

each interaction is associated with a role in society. When individuals are confused about the roles they

play in the intellectual development of a society, that society cannot advance effectively and efficiently.

Ultimately, chaos and confusion begin to take over and the society devolves.

This chapter represents my view of the key interactions and how they relate to our knowledge sphere

example. It is important to note that a society absolutely must agree upon these to advance intellectually

as one. It is much more important that this social agreement occur than it is to set forth my opinion of

what they are and how they operate. This chapter is intended to be a starting point for such a discussion.

Anti-Knowledge Key

Knowledge Interactions exist and work at both individual and social levels (groups, enterprises,

nations, etc.). These knowledge interactions include:

Knowledge storagememory and recollection

Learning

Ignorance

Knowledge creation

Instruction

Exposure

Compilation

Language design

Collaboration, sharing and connectivity

Expression and non-expression


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Questions, anti-knowledge, and theory

Several of these interactions will be discussed in detail in this chapter. A few of the more important or

more complex interactions have a later chapter dedicated to them.

Knowledge StorageMemory and Recollection

Just as the brain is the storage capacity for the individual, the global brain is the storage capacity for a

society. Both the individual and the whole of society have storage capacity. Figure 1:2 shows this in our

knowledge sphere example.

Figure 1:1

We store knowledge both on an individual level and on a social level. On an individual level, this concept

is currently known as memory. Lets look at a current definition.

Definition

Memory, n.

1. The faculty of the mind by which it retains the knowledge of previous thoughts, impressions,

or events.

Memory is the purveyor of reason. --Rambler.


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2. The reach and positiveness with which a person can remember; the strength and

trustworthiness of one's power to reach and represent or to recall the past; as, his memory

was never wrong.

3. The actual and distinct retention and recognition of past ideas in the mind; remembrance; as,

in memory of youth; memories of foreign lands.

4. The time within which past events can be or are remembered; as, within the memory of man.

And what, before thy memory, was done From the begining. --Milton.

5. Something, or an aggregate of things, remembered; hence, character, conduct, etc., as

preserved in remembrance, history, or tradition; posthumous fame; as, the war became only a

memory.

The memory of the just is blessed. --Prov. x. 7.

That ever-living man of memory, Henry the Fifth. --Shak.

The Nonconformists . . . have, as a body, always venerated her [Elizabeth's] memory. --Macaulay.

6. A memorial. [Obs.]

These weeds are memories of those worser hours. --Shak.

Syn: Memory, Remembrance, Recollection, Reminiscence. [1]

Per this current definition, memory is about knowledge retention. Memory has a partner in recollection

and unfortunately the above definition alludes that the two are synonymous when they are not. Below are

two simple advanced definitions from the perspective of global knowledge-working.


Memory- The faculty of a brain to retain or store knowledge.

Recollection - The faculty of a brain to recall knowledge retained or stored. Knowledge is

typically recalled for some specific application or use. Recollection is distinctly different from

learning because learned knowledge or skill is not known before it is learned. Knowledge isrecalled from the respective intellect and as such has already been learned.

Memory is the faculty we use to retain or store knowledge or to be intelligent. When we want to recall this

stored knowledge, the concept is known as recollection or re-collect-ion. Through recollection, we re-

collect past knowledge for the present use.


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It is important to note here that intelligence in our world is highly valued. In short, high intelligence is a

high ability to store and recall knowledge. In fact, intelligence is not the most important knowledge

interaction and in this sense is out of harmony with other global interactions.

Carl Sagan classified knowledge according to storage capacity as genetic, extragenetic and extrasomatic:

Most organisms on Earth depend on their genetic information, which is 'prewired' into their

nervous systems, to a much greater extent than they do on their extragenetic information, which

is acquired during their lifetimes. For human beings, and indeed for all mammals, it is the other

way around. While our behavior is still significantly controlled by our genetic inheritance, we have,

trough our brains, a much richer opportunity to blaze new behavioral and cultural pathways on

short time scales. We have made a kind of bargain with nature: our children will be difficult to rise,

but their capacity for new learning will greatly enhance the capacity for survival of the human

species. In addition, human beings have, in the most recent few tenths of a percent of ourexistence, invented not only extragenetic but also extrasomatic knowledge; information stored

outside our bodies, of which writing is the most notable example. [2]

These definitions stand out from a dictionary version and Ive encapsulated the meaning into simple

advanced definitions below.

Definitions

Genetic Knowledge genetic or pre-wired knowledge received at birth

Extragenetic Knowledge knowledge stored inside the brain

Extrasomatic Knowledge knowledge stored outside the brain

Genetic knowledge is something we are born with, pre-programmed in our minds, for example,

knowledge of how to breathe. Extragenetic knowledge can be passed from person to person or learned

from society. Extrasomatic knowledge can be stored in a variety of electronic and paper forms.

Wherever and however knowledge is stored, mental storage is critical, for without it, we would not

possess any knowledge.


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Anti-Knowledge Key

To exist, knowledge absolutely must be stored.

Knowledge is stored either inside the human brain (extragenetic knowledge) or outside the human brain

(extrasomatic knowledge). See figure 1:2 below.

Figure 1:2

Computer Storage Parallels

There is a parallel between computer storage and storage within the human mind. The computer has

random access memory, or a temporary memory where processing of knowledge can occur. In humans,

the equivalent is short-term memory.

Short-term memory is the working area for knowledge; the temporary storehouse for data as it is

processed (or not processed by choice) into knowledge and for knowledge as it is processed into greater

knowledge.

The computer hard drive is where computer files are stored more permanently, after these have been

processed in random access memory operations. The equivalent in human terms is long-term memory.

Long-term memory is the cumulative knowledge structure of an individual. It includes both knowledge

and experience. Short term memory is processing storage.


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The next level of this computer analogy is the network. When knowledge is shared, in this day globally, it

then comprises the global intellect and can be accessed and contributed to by millions of individual

intellects.

We have a sum total of knowledge. No society knows or will ever know everything about our universe.

There is a level of achievement relative to knowledge storage that is represented here as the global

intellect.

Social Memory

A given social group, at any level, also has a long and short-term memory and an ability to recall

information from global intellect, but not all societies utilize this long-term option effectively.

Consider a society in which there are no libraries and there are no computers. As part of the social

process for raising children, knowledge is passed from parents to siblings.

For example, in a hunting society, the knowledge and skills that relate to hunting are handed down from

father to son. Recall of information in this scenario is on an individual, person to person, basis. And if the

knowledge is not faithfully shared, it can easily be lost. This is the equivalent of a society operating

strictly on its short-term memory.

As this society develops, people start to write. Writing is the first exercise of long-term social memory. Itmay start with pictures on cave walls, then develop into alphabet and then volumes of knowledge saved

on scrolls or parchment. A single library might then develop, to hold the knowledge written. Mass printing

emerges and perhaps a network of libraries develops to hold mass printed material.

A society without such a library system would never be considered advanced. Mass storage of

knowledge is a prerequisite for becoming an advanced race. Knowledge is recalled from the global

intellect by accessing the social library system.

With the onset of computers, the capacity to store and recall information is radically changed. The space

concerns around storing paper is at first minimized, but eventually develops into a situation in which the

usefulness of paper archiving is outstripped by the strong capability of the machine to store information.


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There are centralized and decentralized options for storing knowledge in the computer, and a myriad of

tools are provided for recall. Recall is much faster (and often instantaneous) than it is in a paper

paradigm.

The library system that started out with a crude network eventually develops into an organized,

interconnected, collaborating center for world intellect. The World Wide Web or Global Information

Highway is the start of this process in our society.

Then there is our social intelligence quotient. How much knowledge have we stored as a world society,

and how much are we able to recall? In other words, how intelligent is our society as a whole? Simply

storing the information is not sufficient to achieve a high social intelligence, for we must also be able to

recall that knowledge that is stored. And again, intelligence is simply one knowledge interaction and not

the most important.

Anti-Knowledge Key

Four scenarios develop in various mixtures as it relates to capabilities of a social intelligence:

A society possesses stored knowledge and can quickly recall this knowledge

A society can quickly recall stored knowledge, but does not possess stored knowledge

A society possesses stored knowledge, but cannot recall or has difficulty recalling thisknowledge

A society does not possess stored knowledge and cannot recall this knowledge

An advanced society must be able to both store and recall advanced knowledge.

The concept of this social intellect is found at all levels of society. Knowledge is stored and accessed at

all levels of society and disciplines and enterprises are either intelligent or lacking.

Anti-Knowledge Key

Knowledge is stored in various specific taxons to serve a social purpose. For example:

The global intellect to serve mankind


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The sum of a national intellect to serve a nation

The sum of a disciplinary intellect to serve a discipline

The sum of an enterprise intellect to serve an enterprise

The sum of an individual intellect to serve an individual

The amount of knowledge stored and the accessibility to that knowledge determines the height of social

advance in all of these levels.

We have established that knowledge is stored and recalled at many levels and recalled for specific

purposes. Intelligence at any level can be measured by the amount of knowledge stored and accessibility

to that knowledge.

Storage and recollection require other knowledge interactions to function. We achieve individual or

collective intelligence through the processes of learning and compiling.

Learning

Learning is the means to the end of individual intelligence. Lets look closely at the current

understanding.

Definitions

Learning, n.

1. The act, process, or experience of gaining knowledge or skill.

2. Knowledge or skill gained through schooling or study. See Synonyms at

knowledge.

Psychology. Behavioral modification especially through experience or conditioning [3]

Learning, n.

1. the cognitive process of acquiring skill or knowledge; "the child's acquisition of language"

[syn: acquisition]

2. profound knowledge [syn: eruditeness, erudition, learnedness, scholarship] [4]

As these existing definitions indicate, learning is the act of acquiring knowledge or skill, but to be

comprehensive, the definition should include the words that already exists. Individuals learn when they


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internalize knowledge that is already stored in the global brain. In our knowledge sphere example, the

arrow of this interaction points outward from the large sphere toward the smaller individual sphere.


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Figure 1:3

Learning is the transport of knowledge from the global brain/intellect to the individual or machine

brain/intellect. This transfer results in increased intelligence or increased knowledge stored by that

individual or machine. We will learn how to empower this learning process in the final chapter of this

book, in the section entitled The Learning Machine.

Ignorance

Ignorance, on the other hand, is simply the refusal or inability to participate in intellectual development.

Individuals and social groups can be blocked from intellectual advance from other individuals and socialgroups. It is also, of course, quite possible for an individual to choose to be ignorant.


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Figure 1:4

Knowledge Creation

Knowledge creation is the interaction that creates and potentially adds knowledge to the global brain.

Through knowledge creation we add knowledge to the global brain/intellect and through learning we

extract knowledge from the global brain/intellect. See Figure 1:5 below.

Figure 1:5

One absolutely must utilize the knowledge creation cycle to create knowledge. The knowledge creation

cycle occurs in the mind of the individual. Theoretically, it could also occur in the global brain, but today it

strictly occurs in the mind of the individual.


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This cycle consists of five simple steps that serve as a foundation for many of the premises put forth in

this work.

Anti-Knowledge Key

The Knowledge Creation Cycle

1. Definition/Solution/Structure (Knowledge Context)

2. Question/Problem

3. Logical Operation (connects/structures/defines)

4. Result: Advanced Definition/Solution/Structure

5. Return to Step 2

Knowledge creation is the least understood among all knowledge interactions. It has been defined so

many ways that at this point it is utter chaos. Several chapters in this book will help clarify what

knowledge creation is and exactly how it operates.

Instruction

The instructor stands between the learner and the global brain/intellect. While learning is the process oftransporting knowledge from any level of the brain to the individual or machine brain, instruction is the

mediator for human learning. Individuals or machines knowledgeable in a particular knowledge context

lead those who are not and thereby help them extract and store knowledge context. An individual can

learn without an instructor.

Exposure

Exposure occurs when one is made aware of knowledge without learning it or converting it to knowledge

structures. The individual can choose to be exposed or not be exposed to knowledge within the globalbrain and can be exposed with or without instruction.

In contemporary society, individuals typically confront the global intellect from within a single discipline.

From the perspective of this individual, knowledge outside of this discipline silo might as well not exist.

The individual is exposed to one discipline and not to other disciplines.


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Exposure is the amount of intellectual landscape in the global intellect that an individual, group,

organization or society has been exposed to. Again, exposure does not imply learning or other

knowledge interactions take place. It is a bit like walking through a wood and reaching a lake in a

clearing. Once can choose to approach the lake, or choose to avoid the lake, but exposure has already

occurred. The lake exists and you know at least that much.

Exposure to knowledge can be limited by one or more of five factors:

Volume

A lack of connectivity

Non-expression

Restriction

Ignorance

Volume Sheer volume hampers exposure because, as we have found out in this information age,

mankind can generate much more information than can be absorbed by any single individual. The result

has become a world of specialization. Individuals and groups, rather than wrestle the sum of knowledge,

focus on manageable knowledge domains and attempt to build upon or advance these knowledge

structures.

A Lack of Connectivity While knowledge might exist, connectivity is the bridge to new structures. If we

cannot get to the knowledge or bring the knowledge to us, then it might as well have not existed in the

first place. Connectivity ensures that the knowledge desired is obtainable, but does not legislate that thisknowledge be utilized.

Non-Expression Exposure to knowledge cannot be gained without expression. We will look in more

detail at expression later in this chapter.

Restriction Exposure can also be purposefully restricted. Intellectual property and information security

efforts of individuals, organizations and governments restrict access to certain knowledge by other

individuals and groups. While an individual might desire or attempt to gain exposure, external knowledge

workers limit this exposure to achieve a desired outcome.

Ignorance Ignorance is not stupidity. Ignorance is a willful choice to ignore knowledge. One cannot be

exposed to knowledge that he or she willfully chooses to ignore.


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Compilation

Knowledge compilation is a concept that is very similar to, and often confused with, learning. Knowledge

compiling is not learning, but an entirely separate knowledge interaction.

Definition

Compilation

1. The act or process of compiling or gathering together from various sources.

2. That which is compiled; especially, a book or document composed of materials gathering

from other books or documents.

His [Goldsmith's] compilations are widely distinguished from the compilations of ordinary

bookmakers. --Macaulay. [5]

While compilation can apply to anything gathered together from various sources, Im using the term here

to describe the gathering together and subsequent logical organization of knowledge.

Advanced Definition

Knowledge Compilation The process by which individuals or computers gather knowledge and

make it accessible to any level of the global intellect

The individual transports knowledge structures in and places them into the context of an larger

social structure of knowledge, but does not necessarily incorporate these into his or her own

intellect.

Compiling is synonymous with organizing and cataloging knowledge, as long as this organization

is logical.

Compiling is probably the most overlooked of all knowledge interactions. It is fairly easy for organizations

to learn, store and recall knowledge, but logical compiling tends to be lost in these other interactions.

Compiling adds a type of social logic or social clarity to knowledge structures. It is the knowledge

maintenance interaction and its primary product is the purity of logic in the social intellect.


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Language Design

Language today is anything but designed. It is a product of cultural influence, events and chance.

However, the global intellect and language are intrinsically tied together. The one cannot advance without

the other. Language is the vehicle for the transport/building of knowledge and the global intellect is the

product.

In the course of social advance, it is possible for language to get so confused and scattered that it

negatively impacts the global intellect.

Originated Concept

Language Design A purposeful, intellectual and systematic schema that governs the orderly

expansion of terms (that describe concepts) and elucidation of language

Language has evolved so slowly in ages past that there was really no need for design principles to be

applied to its growth, but the more a society desires to integrate and centralize its knowledge, the more

dependent that society becomes upon language design.

Expression and Non-Expression

Individuals have the prerogative to express or not to express knowledge that they either learn or create.

Advanced Definition

Expression

The exporting or communication and acceptance of stored knowledge structure.

Expression can be in the form of visualized, vocalized, or published knowledge. Some obvious

examples would be making a presentation, creating an image, telling someone, writing a note,

sending an email, creating a journal or magazine article, writing a book, creating a website, etc.


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Three things are required for knowledge expression to function:

1. Stored knowledge

2. A sender

3. A willing recipient

Expression is intrinsic to collaboration and can utilize connectivity. In fact, expression is intrinsic to all

knowledge interactions. The mental universe is a universe of expression through semiotics or semantics.

Anti-Knowledge Key

A society advances by expressing and subsequently incorporating knowledge structures. While

extragenetic or extrasomatic knowledge can be stored and not expressed, knowledge cannot

advance and learning or compiling cannot occur without some type of semiotic or semantic

expression.

For example, an individual may formulate the answer to a problem and store this knowledge in his or her

brain and then choose to express this knowledge to society. But without social acceptance and

incorporation into knowledge storage capacities, the knowledge is lost. In this sense the willingness to

express knowledge is countered by a failure to receive or understand expressed knowledge by a society.

Collaboration, Sharing and Connectivity

Collaboration, sharing and connectivity are most often found in the context of knowledge management. In

fact, these interactions are often confused in knowledge management circles and are represented as the

primary goal of knowledge working. Lets look at an advanced definition:

Advanced Definition

Collaboration Cooperative knowledge working.

Sharing To openly impart knowledge that is openly received (by an individual or social group).

Connectivity Computerized or human networks that allow/enable collaboration.

For example, it would be impossible for a Japanese firm to collaborate with an American firm


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unless some type of connectivity enabled this collaboration. This connectivity would involve the

elimination of both language and location barriers. Examples of connectivity solutions are the

U.S. Postal Service and the Internet; on a smaller scale, a user group or a club. Ultimately, these

two physical enablers allow sharing.

Collaboration, sharing, and connectivity are ways of working with knowledge that exists. These

processes alone will never result in new knowledge. New knowledge is created by the knowledge

creation interaction.

The following cartoon illustrates the dilemma of many institutions and enterprises. Stacked with

knowledge, they likely struggle to obtain valuable, cutting edge knowledge.


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This cartoon also encapsulates the current state of many of the knowledge management programs

around the world. In many cases, the program is strictly aimed at collaboration or connectivity, assuming

that knowledge creation is a natural result of these knowledge interactions.

Questions, Anti-Knowledge, and Theory

Questions are the absence of logical knowledge structures. There are two types of questions, learning

questions and knowledge creation questions.

The sum total of all questions around a particular problem or knowledge domain forms a yin yang effect

with knowledge and creates a negative image of existing knowledge. The negative anti-structure is

known as Anti-Knowledge. The Anti-Knowledge process is a powerful concept that enables human

beings and computers to create knowledge in a methodical and purposed manner.

Theory is questioning outside of, or far beyond, knowledge context. Questioning within knowledge

context works knowledge creation, but outside of knowledge context only provides a general direction for

the creation of knowledge.

Anti-knowledge is a principle concept being introduced in this book. Most of the concepts being explained

in this book drive toward a clear understanding of anti-knowledge.

Integrated Knowledge Interactions

Knowledge interactions do not work individually, but are rather a collection of fully integrated processes.

None can exist in isolation without adversely impacting the global intellect.

Learning, knowledge creation, recollection, language, expression, memory, and other knowledge

interactions not mentioned in this article cooperate to create our future. Optimizing this cooperative

process will bring social advance under control and make it predictable, reliable and fast.

Knowledge interactions as a whole are extremely complex. Focusing on a narrow view of knowledge will

enable us to see the complexity that masks these simple knowledge interactions.

For simplicity sake, lets focus on the integration of three specific knowledge interactions:

Knowledge Creation

Learning

Ignorance


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Imagine that the sphere in Figure 1:6 represents the global intellect and that the individuals are interacting

with this global intellect through their own intellect, which is represented by the sphere in their heads.

The arrows from the individual intellect to the knowledge sphere indicate knowledge creationand knowledge export.

The arrows from the sphere to the individual intellect indicate learning and knowledge import.

The absence of arrows indicates ignorance and apathy.

The sections of the sphere represent knowledge domains or disciplines.

Figure 1:6

A myriad of possibilities exist for individual interaction with this global intellect. The following example

possibilities should give you an appreciation for just how complex knowledge working can become.

These are just a few scenarios that might develop considering only the three knowledge interactions

shown above:

An individual remains in ignorance (no arrows).

An individual has knowledge but is incapable of originating knowledge (arrows from the

sphere only).

The same individual above, instead of being incapable, fails, refuses or is not allowed to

originate knowledge.


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The same individual above, who fails or refuses to originate knowledge, does not realize that

society already has this knowledge.

An individual originates knowledge (arrows to the sphere). Some individuals learn (arrows

from the sphere) this originated knowledge and other individuals do not (no arrows from the

sphere). An individual can both learn and originate knowledge (arrows both directions).

An individual can originate knowledge and fail or refuse to learn (arrows to the sphere only).

Individuals learn and originate in different disciplines. Some just learn different disciplines

(arrows from more than one discipline to different individuals) and some choose to be

multidisciplinary (arrows from more than one discipline to the same individual).

Unaware, some individuals originate knowledge that has already been originated (two arrows

toward the same discipline).

Seeing how complex just these three interactions can become gives us an appreciation for the rigor that

is required to holistically manage all knowledge interactions. An individual or a society cannot simply

assume that this integration will occur automatically, or that operating outside of this integration is

sufficient. The end of this line of thinking is error, fallacy and confusion.

Common Sense

The global intellect is the common seedbed of social advance. In our world this global intellect is

fragmented (east vs. west, disciplines vs. other disciplines, etc.). The fragmented systems evolve

separately, but when they meet there is conflict, confusion, complexity, chaos, even warfare. This

because the two disparate systems can only come together by cooperatively learning and attempting to

understand each other.

As a global society, we have not learned how to advance; how to work knowledge as a whole. It is the

whole that evolves when a society advances. Advance of component systems in silos may appear or

seem to be progressive, but is really regressive if they never harmonize around the common sense.

Common sense is likely the single most important aspect of knowledge working.

In a movie entitled The Sphere a huge sphere is found at the bottom of the ocean. The sphere appears

to be an alien spacecraft that has crash-landed and gone into hibernation. A crew of government experts

from multiple disciplines investigates by submarine, eventually boarding the alien vessel and

communicating with the alien computer system.


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From the very first contact, the alien computer communicates in excruciatingly concise terms, typically

with only one word. At first this simplicity is assumed to indicate a lack of intelligence, but as the movie

progresses the crew realizes that this is an indication of super intelligence. Every word is packed with

meaning that takes the crew a great deal of effort to decipher the code behind these simple terms.

Such is common sense. It reduces the complexity of our world into concise and powerful terms and

common understanding such that these terms hold weight and power.

Current definitions for common sense are as follows:

Definitions

CommonCommon Sense

a. A supposed sense which was held to be the common bond of all the others. [Obs.] --

Trench.

b. Sound judgment. [6]

Common Sense

n : sound practical judgment; "he hasn't got the sense God gave little green apples" [syn: good

sense, gumption, horse sense, sense, mother wit] [7]

These definitions elude to common sense as something simple that everyone can comprehend or that all

of society holds in common.

Common sense, as do all other knowledge interactions, exists at both the social and individual levels.

Consider the following advanced definition.


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Common Sense

1. At a social level-- the common understanding that is universally communicated and

understood within society; the social known on any topic; the socially accepted definition

for any term.

2. At an individual level-- the ability to reduce complex to simplicity; the capacity for

intellectual design or the ability to reduce the complex to its least complex, but highly

functional state.

Consider for a moment that, while there are thousands upon thousands of books, the top experts, the

prevailing viewpoints, the final conclusions and concepts end up summarized in the common reference

volume or dictionary.

A synopsis of the entire global intellect is found in the reference section of any local library. This type of

synopsis of the global intellect is a synopsis of the common sense, or of knowledge that has been

accepted by society. When one says that is just common sense, what he or she really means is that

society at large understands and accepts the conceptanyone should understand that.

The common sense at its very foundation is about definitions. We will learn more about the power of

definitions in the chapter on knowledge creation. For now, consider that disparate definitions must be

harmonized within the various disparate systems for the global intellect to advance as one. Some of

these definitions/knowledge paradigms have evolved over centuries and synergy of these paradigms

becomes more and more difficult the longer these systems advance in silos.

Everything we know has definition or we could not know it. Because we do not focus on synergizing

definitions, the common sense today is in chaos.

Every scholar or business person has a focus on his or her own specific knowledge paradigm and has

blinders on to the rest of the intellectual world. Personal knowledge structures and tends to advance it

irrespective of the rest of society. The intellectual world today has disciplinary silos and silos within

disciplines because advance is not cooperative and because the common sense of simple definitions is

not the central focus.


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I often use the term creativity as an example. At least a hundred definitions of the term exist, and many,

many synonyms, but no one ever felt compelled to go back and synergize these....to analyze them

together and solve the discrepancies. This is something we will do later in this book and it serves as an

example of how cooperative knowledge working around the common sense (and definitions) should

unfold.

Yes there are hundreds or even thousands of definitions of various terms and concepts, but they can be

cooperatively synergized by fully understanding the knowledge creation process.

Silo systems or paradigms almost always have silo definitions, silo terms, silo everything. Any system or

paradigm with more than one definition that is not being cooperatively synergized is devolving.

Complexity, chaos, conflict, etc., even wars, will overtake such systems and they will devolve. Overall,

our current global system is devolving while all disciplines separately think it is evolving. It is devolving

because each silo is growing more and more complex individually, making it incredibly difficult for society

to advance as one. Complexity will always win in our current knowledge working paradigm

While definition has structure, no definition is stable. It is from the definition that new and higher structure

and order is built. The etymology of words reveals this slow progression of meaning. In any discipline,

old experts are retired and new experts are born, because definition and meaning has evolved. Definition

and meaning do not simply exist, they evolve. It is possible for an entirely new paradigm of knowledge to

come into existence, but from its origination it evolves.

Cultures and knowledge paradigms definitely do devolve. I am most definitely describing an idealistic

process above. In a pure and perfect world, knowledge working is cooperative and advancing with a

focus on common definitions.

However, as we will learn later, chaos, confusion, silo thinking, duplication, error, lack of structure, etc. all

press upon the sum of human intellect. Information overload is not knowledge overload; it is knowledge

working out of control. The Internet is chaos because knowledge working is not cooperative and

knowledge interactions are not synergized. We're either advancing together, or we are advancing

different things. If we advance different things, we also have different questions, different definitions,

different error, different chaos, different ideas, etc.when knowledge working is not cooperative around a

single dictionary, then chaos and confusion reign.

Knowledge "disciplines" are the heart and soul of our society, but disciplines of thought are silos of

thought. And silos of thought cause all of the chaos, confusion, complexity, etc. The current

understanding of knowledge working is most definitely not ideal.


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Definition is the stability and lie at the heart of the structure of knowledge. Data has no definition and no

recognizable meaning. Recognizing the lack of definition/structure within data or undefined concepts or

thoughts is the process of questioning. The process of creating structure through questions is knowledge

creation. The process of transferring existing definition/structure to the individual, group or society is

learning.

References

1 Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

2 Sagan, Carl, The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence

(1977)

3 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Copyright

2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights

reserved.

4 WordNet 1.6, 1997 Princeton University

5 Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

6 Websters Unabridged Dictionary, 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

7 WordNet 1.6, 1997 Princeton University


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Chapter 2 The Semiotic Universe and Language

A Semiotics Overview

Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem,uniquely determined by the external world. - - Albert Einstein, Evolution of Physics [1938]

When Enrico Fermi discovered nuclear fission in 1934, it was difficult for the world at that time to

comprehend the power contained in the infinitesimal elements of nature. We soon came to realize that

the very life sustaining heat of our sun is produced by thermonuclear fusion.

Inconceivable power was produced from the reaction of elements that cannot be observed by the naked

eye. Indeed, it was an investigation into the microscopic elements of our physical world that eventually

released unfathomable power of nuclear fission. In the emerging science of nanotechnology this power

will be further amplified as the application of atom/molecule level manufacturing is realized. The potential

for advance in this arena is staggering. For example, products made of material with the same weight as

plastic but stronger than steel will be possible.

Thinking small in the physical universe is powerful, but the same principle holds true in our mental

universe. The power of knowledge is not in the grand disciplinary products of intelligence, but rather the

power of knowledge is found in the interactions at the smallest scale.

Underneath all of the disciplines and enterprises, the knowledge domains, the concepts, the sentences

and the words there is an atomistic structure of knowledge. This atomistic structure is composed of

various types of symbols.

In the physical universe microscopic components make up all types of physical matter. Glass, soil, fire

and ice all have a molecular composition, but one cannot physically observe these molecules. While


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there is tremendous variety of physical things in our world, all of this variety stems from one periodic table

of elements that is manifested in trillions upon trillions of combinations.

The intellectual universe is very similar. A vast and growing of intellectual products exists, but all of these

products are created by combining a limited set of symbols.

Anti-Knowledge Key

Everything that is known can be broken down into smaller subgroups of mental elements that can

be further broken down until one arrives at the base building blockthe symbol.

Example

As an example, consider that underneath almost all of computer science is a foundation of binary

code or a series of 1s and 0s that in various combinations can produce an infinite number of

outcomes. At first glance, this binary code is meaningless, but as other symbols are layered on

top of this binary code and interpret that code, this code becomes comprehensible.

Still more symbols are used in the human interface for any system so that it becomes

comprehensible to the non-systems person. The network of symbols required for any system is

fairly complex, but a finite number of symbols support the entire intellectual endeavor.

In the present understanding semiotics, or the study of signs and symbols, is comprised of semantics,

syntactics, and pragmatics. In addition, youll need to understand that there is presently a distinction

between the sign and the symbol. Each of these terms is defined below. Please note that most of these

definitions have been truncated.

Definitions

Semiotics

The theory and study of signs and symbols, especially as elements of language or other systems

of communication, and comprising semantics, syntactics, and pragmatics. [1]


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Semantics

1. Linguistics. The study or science of meaning in language.

2. Linguistics. The study of relationships between signs and symbols and what they represent.Also called semasiology.

3. The meaning or the interpretation of a word, sentence, or other language form: We're

basically agreed; let's not quibble over semantics. [1]

Syntactics

The branch of semiotics that deals with the formal properties of signs and symbols. [1]

Pragmatics

1. Dealing or concerned with facts or actual occurrences; practical.

2. Philosophy. Of or relating to pragmatism. [1]

Symbol

1. Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention,

especially a material object used to represent something invisible. See Synonyms at sign.

2. A printed or written sign used to represent an operation, element, quantity, quality, or relation,

as in mathematics or music. [1]

Symbol, n.

1. an arbitrary sign (written or printed) that has acquired a conventional significance

2. something visible that by association or convention represents something else that is

invisible; "the eagle is a symbol of the United States" [syn: symbolization, symbolizing,

standing for] [2]

Sign

1. Something that suggests the presence or existence of a fact, condition, or quality.


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2.

a. An act or gesture used to convey an idea, a desire, information, or a command: gave

the go-ahead sign.

b. Sign language.

3.a. A displayed structure bearing lettering or symbols, used to identify or advertise a

place of business: a motel with a flashing neon sign outside.

b. A posted notice bearing a designation, direction, or command: an EXIT sign above a

door; a traffic sign.

4. A conventional figure or device that stands for a word, phrase, or operation; a symbol, as in

mathematics or in musical notation. [1]

Definitions - Summary

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols. This includes:

Semantics The study of meaning in language.

Syntactics The study of the formal properties of signs and symbols.

Pragmatics The study of factual or actual occurrences.

A Symbolis something that represents something else and is synonymous with a sign.

A Sign is something that suggests the existence of a fact, condition or quality.

These definitions dont draw this out, but t is very important to note that in some circles the

symbol and sign are not seen as synonyms, but the sign is seen as something that points to

something else while the symbol has meaning in itself.

I would like to propose a change to this common sense in the form of the following advanced definition.


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Advanced Definition

Semiotics The study of symbols and signs.

Symbol Any representation that, when structured or combined, produces meaning. Verbal,

written, mathematical, musical, and visual languages are compilations of symbols and are used to

convey meaning.

Sign Any symbol that holds meaning. As an example, the letter a does not have meaning, but

a symbol for a road sign

Semantics The study of this meaning.

Syntactics The study of a more the properties of signs and symbols. Properties are simply a

more granular structure of symbols.

Pragmatics The study of the practical application of knowledge within science and technology..

Key Question

How much meaning is attached to a symbol?

The amount of meaning attached to a particular symbol is not fixed, but is rather chosen by a

particular culture.

For example, in the movie The Sphere a team of individuals went to the bottom of the ocean to

explore an alien spacecraft that had crash landed. The onboard computer was activated when

these men entered the ship. At first, there was no communication, but after awhile the computer

spoke a single word. The crew debated long on what the word meant and on whether or not it

was intelligible. One man arrived at the fact that simplicity was a sign of supreme intelligence. As

the movie progressed, this assumption was proven true. The single words spoken sent the crew

on a furious investigation of meaning. Each word was concise, powerful and loaded with

meaning.


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In our current scholastic climate, complex is typically seen as advanced. It is a bit of a paradigm shift for

individuals to see concise and simple as potentially advanced, but the amount of meaning that can be

attached to a single symbol is unlimited. Simple presentations can represent great depth of detail.

Anti-knowledge is a symbolic representation of a concept. The concept ties many terms and definitions

across disciplines together into one. In a sense, there is unlimited depth within the term, but it is a simple

representation and summation of this depth of meaning. One word, like many other words, that

represents vast detail.

Anti-Knowledge Key

Symbols:

Are the building blocks of knowledge.

Are chosen by a particular culture.

Can have a tiered or hierarchical relationship one with another.

Can have variable amounts of structure/meaning assigned to them.

Language

So what then, is language? How does it relate to symbols? How does it relate to knowledge?

Definitions

Language, n.

1. a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols; "he

taught foreign languages"; "the language introduced is standard throughout the text"; "the


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speed with which a program can be executed depends on the language in which it is written"

[syn: linguistic communication]

2. communication by word of mouth; "his speech was slurred"; "he uttered harsh language"; "he

recorded the language of the streets" [syn: speech, spoken language, oral communication]

3. a system of words used in a particular discipline; "legal terminology"; "the language of

sociology" [syn: terminology, nomenclature]

4. the cognitive processes involved in producing and understanding linguistic communication;

"he didn't have the language to express his feelings" [syn: linguistic process]

5. the mental faculty or power of vocal communication; "language sets homo sapiens apart from

all other animals" [syn: speech]

6. the text of a popular song or musical-comedy number; "his compositions always started with

the lyrics"; "he wrote both words and music"; "the song uses colloquial language" [syn: lyric,

words] [2]

Natural Language

A language spoken or written by humans, as opposed to a language use to program or

communicate with computers. Natural language understanding is one of the hardest problems of

artificial intelligence due to the complexity, irregularity and diversity of human language and the

philosophical problems of meaning. [3]

Summary

Language Systematic communication through symbols.

Natural Language A language spoken or written by humans.

Definitions of language almost always related to communication. Think for a moment of using the word

transport instead of communication. This brings us to a couple of key points as we begin to develop a

deeper understanding of the structural foundation for anti-knowledge.

Anti-Knowledge Key

All forms of language (e.g., verbal, visual, textual, mathematical, etc.) are symbolic and all

knowledge is interpreted and worked through symbols.

Language in any form is the conveyance of a compilation of a base of symbols. These symbols


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are used to represent concepts and the connections of these concepts form knowledge. The

logic, or logical connections, of concepts represented by symbols is knowledge.

Advanced Definition

Language

Any vehicle for knowledge transport (words, signs, simple images, complex images,

mathematics, computer programs, video, etc.). Transport can be in the form of import or export

and includes transport:

from individual to individual

from individual to society

from society to individual

from society to society,

from computer to computer

from computer to individual

from individual to computer

from computer to society

from society to computer, etc.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Without language there can be no learning, no intelligence, no knowledge

and no knowledge creation. All of these mental faculties and products are fully dependent upon

language for transport. The level of sophistication and clarity of a language, and the amount of

meaning contained in its symbols, directly correlates to social advance.

There is a distinction between language and natural language. There are many vehicles for

communication and knowledge transport and natural language is only one of these.

Language is merely a vehicle for knowledge transport and is not knowledge itself. One can think and

generate knowledge without utilizing language to transport or communicate that knowledge. This

understanding more clearly represents the concept of tacit knowledge.

A Language Microcosm


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Imagine that you only know one thing and that is all you know. And imagine that you live in a community

of ten people who know also only know one thing, but none of these people know the same

thing. Imagine that this community of people all understands language, but five communicate in a

Spanish language and five communicate using the English language. Neither groups understands any

other form of visual, verbal, systemic language...this is all they know. They cannot communicate in any

other way.

Now imagine that you are one of the English-speaking persons and the one thing you know how to do is

cook and no one else knows how to cook. If you choose not to communicate your knowledge of cooking,

via language, to the other individuals in the community, then they will either have to discover how to cook

themselves or remain ignorant of cooking. Likewise, if they choose not to share the one thing they know

with you, you will either need to discover it yourself or remain ignorant.

Without language, knowledge advance is somewhat paralyzed. You still know, but you cannot grow,

except within yourself...and the power of one (tacit knowledge) is futile to the advance of the community if

not shared.

Now imagine that this community of ten decides to share freely their understanding of each thing they

know one with another. With the best of intentions, they squarely encounter the language barrier. Since

each half of the group cannot understand one another's language, knowledge advance is hindered and

sharing only occurs where there is a common language. Learning each other's language becomes a

barrier to knowledge advance.

Language then, is intrinsic to the advance of a society. Social advance is dependent upon individual and

group sharing/collaboration.

The next few sections describe several different types of language in the most basic terms. These are:

- Signs

- Natural language

- Hierarchy, networking, and heterarchy

- Mathematical and measurement

- Computer language

- Imagery

This section might seem to be an over simplification, but the intent of these sections is to simply represent

key types of language in a structured symbols context.


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Signs

Once again, a sign is a symbol that holds meaning. In a sense, all symbols have some meaning, but the

sign advances to meaning with an intelligible messagea very concise message.

Example

Natural Language would say, There is some type of accommodation for a handicapped individual

here. It might be a restroom facility or an access ramp, a sign for handicap parking. But the

symbol speaks quickly without words:

Natural Language would say, There is a place to purchase or obtain hot coffee here. But again,

the symbol speaks quickly without words because it is an abbreviation for a conventional

knowledge domain:

Both of these images speak the same message. In one case a simple image is used (we

typically associate the word sign with simple graphic images), but in the other letters comprise a

word. Both are really signs that hold intelligible meaning.


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Logos and icons are signs for enterprises and product information. Some are complex images and some

are simple images. Brand identification is largely about creating an association with a specific message

and this message is often attached to a sign.

The logo or icon encapsulates everything from company heritage and integrity to product lines and

product reliability. The logo communicates to consumers a product image, making a visual statement

about the product.

Example

This logo describes an enterprise that is a hybrid between the technological and the artistic or

creativewithout using words.

Logos or icons can encapsulate a wealth of information about an enterprise in one simple, easily

recognized, visual image.

The icons on a computer system serve the obvious purpose of a sign. They give visual information about

the information that is connected to the sign.

Computer icons in a sense are a very flexible system of symbols that can be customized by the holder.

The computer user can customize these symbols to help them quickly access the information connected

to the sign. At first, recognizing icons can be clumsy, but after some use, it becomes second nature. As

easy as A, B, C, D.


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Natural Language

As the lines on this page testify, natural language is a linear representation. While it is definitely

possible to utilize natural language in a planar or three-dimensional problem or reality, the nature of this

tool called natural language is to travel in a straight line.

Example

Take for example, the sentence "My dog crossed the street and then came home." If we mind

map [4] this sentence it might appear as follows:

Dog

Crossed Came

Street Home

While this is definitely a very simple sentence, most any sentence you could "map" would be very

close to this. While it is possible to describe a tree structure relationship with natural language,

one must continually go forward and then back up to describe a concept.

Advanced Definition

Natural Language A linear chain of words.

Words Compound symbols that can be represented verbally or textually.

One of the primary stumbling blocks to accelerated knowledge creation is an overdependence upon

natural language. Knowledge is three dimensional and natural language is not only two dimensional, but

it is linear. We have built an entire society around this linear approach to communication.

Said another way, most computer science efforts are aimed at making a machine think and act like a man

(including the constraints of natural language) instead of making the man think and act like a machine

(escaping the constraints of natural language).

Hierarchy, Networking and Heterarchy


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Example

A hierarchical structure of compound symbols:

The same example in natural language:

He is a father who works a job as a manager and has two hobbies. One hobby he has is fly-

fishing and the other is reading.

Notice the linear progression of natural language:

1. 1 He is a father

2. who works a job

3. as a manager

4. and has two hobbies.

5. One hobby he has is fly fishing

6. and the other is reading.

As you can see, natural language has to wind around in a linear fashion to keep up with hierarchical

representation of the same knowledge. Hierarchy however is much colder than natural language, as

hierarchy is much more logically presented.


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Signs are a natural partner with hierarchy as they can represent concepts and knowledge domains that

are embedded within the hierarchy.

Networkingis used to associate or connect multiple hierarchies or multiple instances of another type of

language thereby making these accessible from a remote location.

Example

A hierarchical network can be represented as follows:

The network is typically composed of nodes of distinct hierarchies and not strictly hierarchical or

holding uniform structure as a whole. Networks make structures of information larger and more

accessible.

While a hierarchy has one ruler per node, the heterarchy can have multiple ruling nodes. Heterarchy is

often associated with a fishnet or a spider web structure of information. The heterarchy takes the concept

of the hierarchy into three dimensions. In our world this is accomplished on the Internet via the hyperlink.

The heterarchy escapes hierarchical structure by allowing nodes to connect in any direction, thereby

taking on three dimensions. This is the most capable language that exists in our world as it can transport

knowledge in three dimensions.


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The hypertext link is the mechanism for these three dimensional connections.

Definition

Hypertext

n : machine-readable text that is not sequential but is organized so that related items of

information are connected; "Let me introduce the word hypertext to mean a body of written or

pictorial material interconnected in such a complex way that it could not conveniently be

presented or represented on paper"--Ted Nelson [1]

Prior to the advent of hypertext, computers were constrained to the planar file manager environment.

The hypertext link allows for information to be presented according to relatedness and not according to a

clearly rigid structure. However, we will learn later that related items have structure simply because they

are related. The difference is that, with hypertext links, the ability to move quickly within a knowledge

structure in three dimensions is enhanced.

Anti-Knowledge Key

Before the advent of hypertext and virtual technologies, information transport or language was bound by

linear or planar, two-dimensional order. The Internet is the first global three-dimensional language

vehicle.

Mathematics and Measurement Language

Mathematics is another form of symbolic language. In this case though, the language construct has a

distinct quality. Some symbols are assigned a value or a common weight (numerical) while others

represent actions performed upon the numerical symbols (functions, etc.) or the indication of results of

these actions.

When precision and function are added to language, we can attain knowledge that is not attainable

through natural language.


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We think of pi (3.14159265358979323846...) as an obvious mathematical symbol, but really all numbers

and functional representations within mathematics are symbolic.

Example

Placing a box around the entity immediately helps us identify with a sign, but even without the

box, all of the entities below are symbolic and the letters and numbers individually are symbolic.

But only the number symbols have quantity or weight inherent to its meaning.

We think of numerals in terms of Arabic numerals, but there are many paradigms for numerical systems,

just as there are many paradigms for natural language systems.

The following reference gives us some examples of paradigms that precluded are the current Arabic

numeral systems:

Numerals, signs or symbols for graphic representation of numbers. The earliest forms of number

notation were simply groups of straight lines, either vertical or horizontal, each line corresponding

to the number 1. Such a system is inconvenient when dealing with large numbers, and as early

as 3400BC in Egypt and 3000BC in Mesopotamia a special symbol was adopted for the number

10. The addition of this second number symbol made it possible to express the number 11 with 2

instead of 11 individual symbols and the number 99 with 18 instead of 99 individual symbols.

Later numeral systems introduced extra symbols for a number between 1 and 10, usually either 4

or 5, and additional symbols for numbers greater than 10. In Babylonian cuneiform notation the

numeral used for 1 was also used for 60 and for powers of 60; the value of the numeral wasindicated by its context. This was a logical arrangement from the mathematical point of view

because 60 0 = 1, 601 = 60, and 602 = 3600. The Egyptian hieroglyphic system used special

symbols for 10, 100, 1000, and 10,000.

The ancient Greeks had two parallel systems of numerals. The earlier of these was based on the

initial letters of the names of numbers: The number 5 was indicated by the letter pi; 10 by the


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letter delta; 100 by the antique form of the letter H; 1000 by the letter chi; and 10,000 by the letter

mu. The later system, which was first introduced about the 3rd century BC, employed all the

letters of the Greek alphabet plus three letters borrowed from the Phoenician alphabet as number

symbols. The first nine letters of the alphabet were used for the numbers 1 to 9, the second nine

letters for the tens from 10 to 90, and the last nine letters for the hundreds from 100 to 900.

Thousands were indicated by placing a bar to the left of the appropriate numeral, and tens of

thousands by placing the appropriate letter over the letter M. The late Greek system had the

advantage that large numbers could be expressed with a minimum of symbols, but it had the

disadvantage of requiring the user to memorize a total of 27 symbols. [5]

When a symbol is assigned any quantity or weight, it becomes a number. We could assign words a

common weight if we wanted, or simple images.

The knowledge gleaned from mathematics is distinct from knowledge obtained through natural language.Mathematical calculations demand precision and order. This exactness allows us to measure many

aspects of the physical universe.

Imagine trying to measure the distance to the sun with natural language symbols. Since there is no

common value assigned, this would be a futile effort. Mathematics is the language of measurement (size,

count, quantity, distance, angle, speed, reaction, density, force, momentum, etc.).

However, in some cases natural language can become extremely precise and actually have

weights. Think of the balance symbol that commonly represents our legal system. A legalsystem is a precise form of natural language, by which we measure guilt or innocence.

We tend to perceive our world in terms of natural language and often overlook the unseen order beneath

our words. Mathematics is a language that demands rigidity and order. Utilizing this symbolic language

we can measure our universe.

Computer Language

With regard to use of symbols in language, computer programming is absolutely no exception. In all

programming languages, symbols are used to communicate.

The following definition describes the common sense of computer programming language.


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Definition

Programming language

A formal language in which computer programs are written. The definition of a

particular language consists of both syntax (how the various symbols of the language may be

combined) and semantics (the meaning of the language constructs).

Languages are classified as low level if they are close to machine code and high level if each

language statement corresponds to many machine code instructions (though this could also apply

to a low level language with extensive use of macros, in which case it would be debatable

whether it still counted as low level). A roughly parallel classification is the description as first

generation language through to fifth generation language.

Another major distinction is between imperative languages and declarative languages. [2]

Syntax is how symbols are combined (structured) and semantics is the meaning behind the language

constructs. All types of language utilize syntax and semantics, not just computer programming

languages.

We will go into much more detail on computer language in subsequent chapters, but the key point to

realize here is that computer programming, like all types of language, is based on the structuring of

symbols.

Imagery

Now consider what is required for natural language to "paint" a three dimensional picture of reality.

Consider, for example, how many words it would take to describe (in detail) an image of an apple on a

table with a detailed background behind it. What might take pages in natural language can be said

almost instantaneously with a still image. One might have to study the image to draw out all of thedetails, but they are there in a symbolic representation. Imagery is vastly more efficient as a mental

processing tool than natural language.

Imagery

256626 Knowledge Machine Part I

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