Socially connected wisdom

It is indeed hard to comprehend impact of technologies on society. It is even harder to write about them. When we have an insight, even if we are certain about it, writing requires additional efforts. Efforts such as gathering data and knowing what people has found out. Such as knowing who are the audience, and what do they know now. And how do we impress the knowledge upon them.

A droplet is a piece of information. It is very small but indispensable. The society is essentially made up of a lot of information. Information in use are knowledge. When information comes together they, more than often, develops into something new.

Because there are so much information and wisdom about them, one person cannot hold on to any critical mass required for large scale endeavors. Therefore, we are now so reliant on professions working in groups. These professionals are socially connected. None of them know everything, but each of them knew something. Together, they work as a system - a system of knowledge. They share a collective goal, with distributed efforts.

Facilitating these exchange is an infrastructure. The technical ones may be called Enterprise Infrastructure, a computer system used to manage information repositories and facilitates exchanges. The social ones may be called Community of Practice, where people grouped to exchange vital information and share/improve practices.

Beyond computer systems and social network, I think we are still missing something. One is the cultural infrastructure, of how people historically works together. Two is the relationship between them.

Cultural infrastructure is the foundation of all societies, and they are not going away in at least 10-20 years (It is as long as it needs to reeducate an entire generation). They are our languages, gender roles, work ethics, and so forth. They set the primary goals of our life - to be somebody, to be rich, or to be a good parent. They also shape the way we form alliances and climb the social ladder. In some cultures, the older you are the better you look. In others, it is eloquence that counts.

Relationships between these infrastructure are important. People use computer systems, and it is the primary way they network. They network with both colleagues in the company or expertise outside the computer. Not all computer systems can be governed internally. Some are public features, and community of practice do extend outside of the company. Culture too, permeate within and outside of the company. Companies with longer history in a country do have deeper reach into its communities. These have to be considered as part of its wisdom as well.