My last blog, Three Stages of Mind...lessness, proposed a direct correlation between heightened intellectual abilities and 1) our better recognizing threats and limitations, 2) understanding how to deal with them, 3) evaluating options, 4) building strategic solutions, and then 5) successfully employing them to enhance our safety and reaching abundance. Though over time, we have made major advances in diffusing the safety threats and the need for excessive stockpiling for sustenance, we have not yet developed Intellectual Capacity (IC) to levels that help remove our reliance on essential resources. Until such times that we reach Singularity, efforts to enhance our individual IC is required.
Past
IC used to be centralized. People generally knew a lot about specific subjects, for example farming or manufacturing, but did not nor needed to know much about many activities, for instance to also drive a car, use a smartphone, operate a computer, or pilot a satellite TV.
The competition was linear. There was either another farmer or none at all. The Centralized approach promoted ‘vertical’ knowledge acquisition.
1. Centralized: Vertical Knowledge - wide scale knowledge about an area or a small set of areas
Yesterday
In recent past the knowledge acquisition became decentralized. People got to know a number of subjects well. For example, many more are expected to know how to build a company, market, manage, and grow it.
There is also a greater number of Competition, yet not rapidly multiplying.
The Decentralized method pushed ‘horizontal’ knowledge gain.
2. Decentralized: Horizontal Knowledge - average information about wide set of areas
Today
The current trend is one resembling a distributed model. We will call it Verizontal. The model is not preparing a person for a specific position, but rather focusing on particular skills that deal with a competition that is no longer linear or stagnant.
The necessary and competitive information is obtained through micro-contributions from many sources, especially tech solutions or networks. For instance, GPS equipped delivery drivers no longer have a need for a Dispatcher. The competitive, smart technology solutions are faster and much more precise, with up to a minute traffic conditions and alternate routes than an average person.
Alternatively, we can improve our IC by simply sharing a Network Capacity with some very smart folks. Then, knowledge is less reliant on formal procurement (i.e. degrees, certifications), and more on access to existing micro-tools (i.e. apps and people) with the requisite IC.
The Distributed approach thereby impacts the formal institutions. As such, the government’s role as a stamp for knowledge will decrease (decreased licensing power), and so would the leverage of academic institutions. Licenses and degrees are already being replaced by recommendations and feedbacks from peers who have had a first-hand experience with our skills.
Contributing to the decline of academia is also its ineffectiveness in delivering crucial information in a timely manner. There is a natural delay in application of knowledge. With today’s marketplace experiencing exponential growth, with new products replacing previous models every 6 to 18 months, the time from classroom to practice is critical. Yet, we still have students walking off graduation stages with diplomas that celebrate skills that become obsolete before the students even set a foot in the job market.
3. Distributed: Verizontal Knowledge – knowledge is all over, we connect through uber-networks.
Tomorrow:
The current trend of Distributed knowledge acquisition will take the lead in the marketplace until we reach the point of Singularity. At that time, we will likely acquire information through downloads directly into our memory, advancing our individual and thereby our civilization’s IC exponentially. We will soon need to reevaluate the term Sci-Fi...
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