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Jon Awbrey

A tangent of discussion on the The n-Category CafÃ© Blog brought me an interesting train-wreck of thought â€¦ and after I thought 'n' thought 'n' thought about it for what I thought was a long long long enough time, I thought I could, I thought I might, I thought I would â€” share it with all you train-wreck e-ficionados here at The Train WReck WReview.

BYOP

Jon

â–“â–’â–‘â–ºâ–“â–’â–‘â–ºâ–“â–’â–‘â–º WARNING â—„â–‘â–’â–“â—„â–‘â–’â–“â—„â–‘â–’â–“

Off Topic Trains Of Thought Will Be Shunt On Sight

â–“â–’â–‘â–ºâ–“â–’â–‘â–ºâ–“â–’â–‘â–º WARNING â—„â–‘â–’â–“â—„â–‘â–’â–“â—„â–‘â–’â–“

Jon Awbrey

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John Baez posted a blogicle headed What Do Mathematicians Need to Know About Blogging? 2 that touched on many topics of more general interest for all of us who think about the triple interface of our objective realities, our resources of information, knowledge, or wisdom, and our so-called organized societies.

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Jon Awbrey

Needless to say there is much to think about in connection with that thread â€¦ questions about the once and future kingdom of knowledge â€¦ questions about the ways that highly developed resources of scientific experience, folklore, knowledge, and wisdom are â€” and might be â€” maintained and transmitted â€¦ whether inside, among, or beyond the camps of specialized disciplines.

Having no acquaintance with blogging myself â€” outside the occasional comment added to other people's blogs â€” I stuck to sampling the ebb and flow of discussion, having nothing very salient to add to the mix.

But as the scope of discussion continued to expand, as scopes of discussion often do, the following question and self-reply piqued my interest enough to give it more than a passing thought:

QUOTE

I would like to ask a more general question: why do mathematicians and other abstract researchers need the academic system at all? It seems to me that with blogs, wikis and other collaborative technologies researchers can â€œroute aroundâ€ the archaic brick and mortar academic model entirely. The key is finding a way to distribute funds to researchers globally, rather than through university channels. For example Iâ€™m looking for some applied research to get involved in as preparation for entering a PhD program, and I see no reason to limit myself to the projects at my current university. The current system is absurdly inflexible and local. Some kind of â€œGlobal Research Networkâ€ or â€œNetversityâ€ needs to be established to make better use of the net-centric paradigm, so that researchers can be matched to projects and people with similar interests worldwide.

â€” Sean Taylor, 09 Nov 2009 (+ my emphasis)

I leave you to your collective and several thoughts on the matter, and will share my own on the morrow â€¦

Jon Awbrey

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