Hi All.

First reply to this group. Coming from an IT background, rather than a
"curator".

Without being a an academic type since leaving University, I had thought I
observed a lot of Dr Vikas observations, though without the statistical
backup.

It's possibly the TOB effect where everyone who wants to get in on the act
has to be able to communicate on a level which is the greatest common
denominator. BTW I'm not biblical.

The notion of a loss of knowledge, or creativity, IMHumbleO is probably
mute, because the findings of research like these can only be what is set
out to be proved. (I'm a skeptic) That is the cost of research in today's
society is so costly, that without a primary objective, or grail to go
after, any research project with wide ranging focus will be doomed to
fiscal failure if it is to be exposed to a big enough population to
actually make a difference.

What statistics like these depend on is operational/market research
groupings rather than the much more costly investigation of culture on an
individual basis. Let's face it, culture is subjective, and one man's meat
is another man's sacred cow.

I'd say that there is a real loss in reportage, and the way satellite TV,
and global newgroups peddle their editorials as fact, and this could be
leading to the "dumbing down" of the poplation.

Culture is alive and well, and I've never seen as many personal friends
travelling to immerse themselves in foreign cultures, and to be open to new
ideas - could be a thirtysomething thing though.

Thanks for the opportunity

Paul



-----Original Message-----
From: Brewster Kahle [SMTP:brewster@...]
Sent: 19 February 2003 21:46
To: archivists@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [archivists] Is there gain in knowledge or loss of knowledge?


[on a recent trip to India, Dr Om Vikas from the Ministry of Information
gave a presentation and one of the slides really hit me hard. I have
reproduced it here, with permission. This is the first time I have ever
heard someone question the accepted meme of our knowledge explosion.
Even if I disagree with the fringes, it is a bold and interesting point.
Maybe an analogy with the loss of biological diversity stands: there are
more biomass on earth, but of fewer types. -brewster ]


Is there gain in knowledge or loss of knowledge?

* From an estimated 10,000 world languages in 1900, about 6,700 languages
survived in 2000. Two percent of the world's languages are becoming extinct
every year.

* There is worldwide, un quantifiable erosion of cultural participation,
knowledge and innovation.

* With the loss of language, we lose art and ideas, scientific information
and technological innovation capacity.

* World-level literacy is improving. More people can read than ever before,
but fewer people create stories.

* There is a tendency from being creators to consumers at the time when
technology could have amplified our creative capacities.

* UNESCO study (1999) of 65 languages: 49 languages (75%) had experienced
real decline in the number of works translated from these languages to
other languages.

* The proportion for English arose from 43 percent in 1980 to over 57
percent in 1994.

* The share held by top four translated languages (English, Spanish, French
and German) rose from 65 percent in 1980 to 81 percent in 1994.

* According to a UNESCO study involving the world's 140 most published
authors: 90 out of 140 were English writers in 1994 compared to 64 out of
140 in 1980.

* There is a collapse in authorship, translation and quality in other
languages.

Cultural Erosion!

Dr. Om Vikas



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