ORB Visualization
(soon)
3/1/2004 8:22 PM
Knowledge ecology
and economic systems
The paper by Freidrich Hayek (1945)
http://www.virtualschool.edu/mon/Economics/HayekUseOfKnowledge.html
is a very nice one to help us, Brad and I, understand where the disagreement is at. In the paper "The Use of Knowledge in Society" Hayek speaks of decentralized planning via what evolutionary programming would call a "utility function", except in real distributed processes the localization of control is not ever completely there in something that is mathematically precise.
There is more to say about the mathematics, and the more recent work on non-equilibrium stabilities such as discussed by I. Prigogine and others. I have not studied Hayek deeply and yet I have the sense that he would enjoy the modern work.
In the paper by Hayek (1936)
http://www.virtualschool.edu/mon/Economics/HayekEconomicsAndKnowledge.html
the concept of equilibrium is developed both as a model of knowledge sharing and acquisition and as a model of economics.
Well, not exactly, and here is the point of difference.
I wish to consider a knowledge ecology as being separated from an economic system.
My sense is that Hayek has a model of an economic system where human knowledge is part of the model.
Hayek addresses, in 1936, the issue of equilibrium economics when all economic value is reconciled in present moments with human judgment that are, nevertheless, anticipatory. So the model of equilibrium still somewhat accounts for the "epistemic" gap between the internal experience of an individual and the external social/economic world. The term epistemic is a term used in the ecological psychology community and in complexity theory. It is simply a term that references a separation between internal experience and the environment of the person experiencing.
Any way.
In Brad's wonderful concept of super distribution he simply instruments electronic property so that a rational economy can develop based on a resolution of value at (micro) transaction time.
I think that I have characterized Brad's position ok. And this is a good position, of course. I also know that there are subtleties that I have not captured in this characterization.
The problem that seems not addressed by this notion, stated as I have stated it, is that monopoly power is exercised to cause exclusions from "outside" this rational economy.
I do not know how Brad addresses this problem.
Brad,
Advertising and very poor media content seems to not be rational in any sense, and yet it more and more is dominating the media, both TV and the Internet.
How would you deal with this ?