Wikis and Temporal Thickness

Bard

## Wikis and Temporal Thickness: An Intriguing Intersection **Understanding Wikis:** A wiki is a collaborative website where users can freely edit and create content. These websites typically focus on a specific topic and provide easily accessible information for anyone to contribute to and access. Think of Wikipedia, the most popular example, which allows anyone to contribute and edit information on almost any topic imaginable. **Temporal Thickness and Memory Machines:** The concept of "temporal thickness" is less established and open to interpretation. It could refer to: * **Richness of experience:** A life brimming with diverse experiences and memories, layered upon each other. * **Depth of understanding:** A deeper comprehension of an event or concept due to exposure to various perspectives and contexts. * **Interweaving narratives:** The ability to connect memories through time, creating a complex web of understanding and meaning. Now, let's explore how wikis might increase temporal thickness as memory machines: **1. Collective Memory:** Wikis act as external storage for information and experiences, transcending individual limitations. They become repositories of collective knowledge, accessible to anyone for exploration and learning. This collective memory can deepen understanding and enrich individual experiences. **2. Dynamic Narratives:** Unlike static encyclopedias, wikis are constantly evolving, with information revised and updated over time. This creates a dynamic narrative where historical context influences present information and vice versa. Exploring a topic through a wiki can reveal its evolution and offer diverse perspectives, enhancing your understanding of its temporal thickness. **3. Personal Connection:** Wikis, unlike traditional memory machines, allow personal engagement. You can contribute your own experiences, perspectives, and insights, enriching the collective memory and potentially adding depth to your own understanding. This active participation can strengthen the connection between individual and collective memory. **4. Cross-disciplinary Connections:** Wikis often blur the lines between disciplines, allowing you to explore connections between seemingly disparate topics. This cross-pollination of information can spark new insights and create unexpected layers of meaning, contributing to the richness of your understanding. **Challenges and Limitations:** While wikis offer unique possibilities for memory enhancement, they also face challenges: * **Accuracy and Veracity:** Information on wikis can be unreliable due to lack of editorial control. Careful critical thinking is needed to navigate this landscape. * **Subjectivity and Bias:** Wiki content reflects the perspectives and biases of contributors. Identifying and acknowledging these biases is crucial for nuanced understanding. * **Overinformation Overload:** With vast amounts of information readily available, focus and curation are essential to avoid getting overwhelmed and losing the threads of the narrative. **Conclusion:** Wikis, as collaborative memory machines, offer intriguing possibilities for increasing temporal thickness. They can provide access to a vast collective memory, enrich understanding through diverse perspectives, and foster personal connection to information. However, critical thinking, awareness of biases, and effective information curation are necessary to navigate the challenges and truly benefit from this unique resource. Ultimately, the true value of wikis for enhancing temporal thickness depends on how we interact with them. They can be powerful tools for enriching our understanding of the world and ourselves, but only if we approach them with a discerning and engaged mind.

connections

patterning

DOT strict digraph rankdir=LR node [style=filled fillcolor=lightyellow penwidth=3 color=black fontname="Helvetica"] HERE NODE node [style=filled fillcolor=lightblue] WHERE /^Next/ LINKS HERE -> NODE node [style=filled fillcolor=white] HERE NODE WHERE /^Next/ LINKS HERE -> NODE node [style=filled fillcolor=white penwidth=3 color=black] LINKS HERE -> NODE node [style=filled fillcolor=white penwidth=1 color=black] HERE NODE LINKS HERE -> NODE node [style="filled,rounded,dotted" fillcolor=white] edge [style=dotted] HERE NODE BACKLINKS NODE -> HERE STATIC strict digraph {rankdir=LR node [style=filled fillcolor=lightyellow penwidth=3 color=black fontname="Helvetica"] "Preview Next Diagram" node [style=filled fillcolor=lightblue] "Preview Next Diagram" -> "Next Page" node [style=filled fillcolor=white] node [style=filled fillcolor=white penwidth=3 color=black] "Preview Next Diagram" -> "First Link" "Preview Next Diagram" -> "Agile" "Preview Next Diagram" -> "Next Page" node [style=filled fillcolor=white penwidth=1 color=black] node [style=filled fillcolor=white penwidth=1 color=black] "Agile" "Agile" -> "Agile Experience" "Agile" -> "Agile Mindset" "Agile" -> "Agile Practices" "Agile" -> "Agile Paradigm" "Agile" -> "Agile Story" node [style=filled fillcolor=white penwidth=1 color=black]}