[Sigia-l] Google vs. Knowledge Management

[James Kalbach]

[Derek wrote]
> If we are 'evenly derived' and resist mis-appropriations (brought about
> by the affections) to mean more than we meant in order to facilitate
> 'finding' disproportionate to such knowledge (like Ziya's OS example) we
> will leave fanaticisms like categories, directories, and hierarchies
> behind and move forward, with confidence, being both real and natural.

This recalls point #37 (and others) of David Gerlernter's
"THE SECOND COMING — A MANIFESTO"
< http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/gelernter/gelernter_p1.html >

"37. Elements stored in a mind do not have names and are not organized
into folders; are retrieved not by name or folder but by contents. (Hear a
voice, think of a face: you've retrieved a memory that contains the voice
as one component.) You can see everything in your memory from the
standpoint of past, present and future. Using a file cabinet, you classify
information when you put it in; minds classify information when it is
taken out. (Yesterday afternoon at four you stood with Natasha on Fifth
Avenue in the rain — as you might recall when you are thinking about
"Fifth Avenue," "rain," "Natasha" or many other things. But you attached
no such labels to the memory when you acquired it. The classification
happened retrospectively.)"

I recommend reading the rest of the manifesto if you already haven't.

He went on to develop Scopeware, which organizes "stuff"
primarily by time.
< http://www.scopeware.com/ >

Notice that Scopeware does not discount "findability" as
a concept in their language, rather they take a (complelely)
different approach.

Ciao,
Jim