Top down or bottom up encyclopedia?

Posted by adi on Oct 14, 2008 in The world of the web

Nebbiolo over at GrandOldTeam highlighted this morning the bourgening encyclopedia of philosophy project being created at Stanford.  The project attains content courtesy of noted experts in a particular field, who contribute entries based on their field of expertise.  Given the clout of the institution it would seem to be an excellent project in the making.  Clearly by taking this approach the entries are taking a little longer to fill up than on something like Wikipedia, but no doubt the thinking is that when completed the encyclopedia will be an exceptional resource for all things philosophical, written as it was by some of the finest minds in the field.

Now then, this got me thinking.  I’ve always been a free market advocate but it wasn’t until my brother gave me a copy of Emergence, by Stephen Johnson, that I started to appreciate just how bottom up systems worked.  Around this time I was also studying things like neural networks at university and we would often hold debates with our lecturer regarding how systems evolve from simple beginnings to complex creations, mostly with minimal input from the ‘creator’.

From this small acorn grew an interest in libertarian philosophies and so forth into crowd sourcing, complexity science and modern incarnations of roughly the same idea, that of complex systems forming with little over arching control.  Obviously Wikipedia is an example of just such a creation, with editors not required to display their credentials prior to writing an entry.  Despite the various inter-user politics at play on the site, it is by and large a meritocracy with content judged on its own merits rather than who penned it.

With any such project there will undoubtably be errors present, and these are often pounced upon by those that wish to belittle the Wikipedia project, but I feel that despite its flaws it remains an astonishing piece of work that has added tremendously to the pool of knowledge available to us all.

James Surowiecki coined the phrase Wisdom of Crowds in his book of the same name.  I guess only time will tell whether the crowds at Wikipedia can really trump the venerable experts over at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Tags: Complex systems, emergence, encyclopedia of philosophy, James Surowiecki, Philosophy, stanford, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, wikipedia, wisdom of crowds

America

Posted by adi on Oct 12, 2008 in Play

I’ve long had a soft spot for America.  The entrepreneurial spirit that seems to flow through its people strikes a chord and despite the battering the country’s reputation has taken under the Bush administration it has remained dear to my heart.

And so it was with some relish that I looked forward to the series that sees Stephen Fry travel around each of the 50 states in his own homage to the land that was almost one he could call home.  The prospect of the wonderful Fry and the wonderful America so enticed me in fact that I shelled out for the accompianing book.  Both the book and the initial program on Sunday night were nice tasters of just what it is that makes America a special place.  It would have been nice if one or the other had given a little more depth.  After all, each state is almost akin to a European country in size and variety so I was sometimes left craving more.

I guess the answer to that would be to take the plunge and embark on a road trip of my own, or more couragesly to try and get into Stanford to do the MBA that I have so often dreamt about.

Tags: america, stanford, stephen fry

Do I dare to dream?

Posted by adi on Oct 11, 2008 in Play

A MBA from Stanford is something I’ve dreamt about ever since I got bitten by the technology bug around the turn of the millenium.  I don’t know whether it’s the lure of Sillicon Valley and the wonderful inventive spirit that seems to flow throughout the region, or indeed a sort of academic snobbery that sees me so often in awe of those that attend the worlds premier academic institutions.

Whatever the reason it has indeed been a dream of mine for a little while.  Alongside the lofty position Stanford holds in my heart however is the feeling that little ol’ me is largely unworthy of a place in its hallowed halls.  So the dream has been on hold whilst I’ve attempted to learn all that I can, gaining the odd qualification and nuggets of experience along the way.

Anyway, I felt like I was getting closer to a position where I could at least have a stab at entry now.  I feel I’m perhaps smarter than the average bear, and have saved up enough to cover the course fees.  So with a latent confidence the Stanford site was opened and all facets devoured.  Now perhaps my aforementioned awe of the institution isn’t enabling a particularly qualified point of view here, but the course does look outstanding.

Browsing through the entry requirements and it all seems like good fun.

• Bachelors degree – check
• A GMAT – not sure what this is but it sounds like a test I would have to complete, no huge fears there.
• Academic record – no specifics required (which is good considering the horror show that was my first degree) but an expectation that you ‘challenged yourself throughout your academic career’.
• 3 letters of reference

Bugger.  There always has to be a snag and I fear this last one could be just that.  They ask for 3 references; 2 from employers (1 from direct supervisor and 1 from A N Other that evaluates your work), and 1 from a peer.  I felt I had a great relationship with my peers at TMN, and indeed initially with the bosses.  But (the royal but), as time went on, such was the gap in professional philosophy between myself and both the company and my boss that working together became pretty tough.

Now I won’t pretend to be perfect, far from it, but I have studied marketing and management an awful lot and would like to believe that what I have learnt has merits in practice.  So whilst I will no doubt take things from my time at TMN that I can use to improve, I also like to think that my convictions are worthy of sticking up for in a professional context.  Alas it seems unlikely that TMN will offer up a glowing recommendation to support my application, which somewhat leaves me in a quandry of what to do.  What to do indeed.

Tags: california, GMAT, mba, sillicon valley, stanford