How I Know What I Know

How I Know What I Know

All intentional change must begin with what we know. The line between what we know and what we do not know is a broad one. In that former is information, experience, and knowledge. On the other side of that dividing line is conjecture, opinion and the spectacle of the real*. Social media straddles those two ways of understanding. It presents the perspectives that suggests that because we have read a blog post or watched a video that we now have some definitive knowledge about something. Coming to know what you know is not a passive experience of absorbing other people’s knowledge or opinion. Instead, it is an active search for understanding on many levels. I want to show you the practice that I use to understand the world that surrounds me. In doing this, I hope to show you the difference between genuine knowledge and mere opinion. Why does this matter? When you know what you need to know, you are less susceptible to being manipulated by people who use ideologies as a wedge to divide people and communities.

The Two Global Forces face off in Hong Kong

The Two Global Forces face off in Hong Kong

The Two Global Forces describe a transition that is unprecedented in human history. The transition is from hierarchy to networks. It is emerging through two developments. The obvious one is how personal technology provides people the capacity for independent action like never before. The second is a growing awareness of a detrimental impact that organizational hierarchy is increasingly having upon human experience.

The Hong Kong Moment

An illustration of this historic transition is taking place in Hong Kong. Protesters are daily demonstrating against the Chinese Communist government in Beijing over its treatment of Hong Kong’s citizens. The protesters represent a force of decentralization against the highly centralized government of China.