| 3. WISDOM SHARING SOCIETIES -WKSs- |
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Some time ago, in the MISTICA VC different alternatives have been in discussion in order to define that society in which the technological development is considered as a means, instrument and essential resource for progress and integral human development. Definitions such as: communication societies, knowledge societies, learning societies, network societies, realized12
knowledge societies, skill13
societies, etc. have not been able to conquer the imaginary of this space14
considering they don't either fulfill or harmoniously ensemble all the principles we care about (solidarity, collaboration, diversity, plurality, transparency, inclusion, etc.).
Since 2001, in MISTICA the term Society has been pluralized considering "every society has had its own way of generating knowledge related to the cultural context"15,
hence each society of information or whatever you want to call it will have to readapt or rather modernize starting from its own historical reality and its culture.
So, why insist on giving a new term, if the term "Information Society" has already been internationally accepted?
First of all because we think "written and oral language is the main instrument of human communication. Using words we can create moods, incorporate attitudes, and give a name to what is needed, given or taken out. Language must be dynamic so we can include the changes imposed, stirred and demanded by social realities. Whenever we label something we are giving it content."16.
We provide a new meaning by itself.
Secondly, because there are differences among the terms data, information and knowledge, which are fundamental when building a society. The term data makes reference to a notion, a fact or a directive conveniently made for communication purposes. Information, because of its content or meaning, structure or syntax is the basis of communication or transmission of knowledge. However, neither data nor information is knowledge itself, since knowledge means to be able to handle and articulate coherently and critically data and information.
"Information is not knowledge. To be able to know we must assimilate information and the higher the level of critical knowledge, the more knowledge. Knowledge must be born, and before that, information and knowledge must make love and long before that, they must meet, build up a relationship, communicate... etc. Knowing means to know on account of intelligence or experience; it is also perceiving, distinguishing. Information is just data (sometimes true, some other times, merely not)" (JP, 4.24.03).
The process of building knowledge needs the interaction among data, information and knowledge, it creates and generates an added value favoring knowledge. The potentiality of data and information will depend on the possible usefulness or benefit while building knowledge. This process is carried out in every culture.
"Any book is based on information and it contains knowledge. In order to write it (making it simpler) you need data, information and discussions (other people) asking questions like: What do I do with this? What is it necessary for? Is it good or bad? Is it relevant or not? Does it add something or not? etc... Knowledge is built using our brain, which is sustained by data and information" (VS,4.24.03).
"Information will be used or not according to the usefulness it represents or the benefit it can produce. That is why "the mere construction of powerful information systems or galactic cable infrastructures, for instance, doesn't guarantee information is used. Information by itself is rather powerless" (JP, 4.24.03).
Owing to the above reasons, this MISTICA VC has suggested some time ago that "the Internet is an endless source of information, but it doesn't provide us knowledge. We produce knowledge either individually or collectively when information is assimilated, reflected upon and adapted to our experiences, needs, conditions, visions of the world; when it is discussed with others either physically or virtually. For this reason the process of generation of knowledge is performed outside the Internet, therefore it is necessary to overcome the myth that information is knowledge, and the fact that being connected to the web allows us to acquire more knowledge"17.
Thirdly, the need to incorporate the experience and the wish to communicate in the process of building knowledge. In order to achieve this, it is essential to articulate formal and informal, individual and collective wisdom, circularly and systematically, thus generating the creation of knowledge and individual self-building.
That is why collaboration, solidarity and sharing in the process of building knowledge and wisdom is so important, as well as construction and reconstruction of the individual and society.
In this new society we should ask ourselves whether we are actually communicating, or just keeping the pace imposed by the so called advance of technology. We get too much information, we swallow too much information, we consume it partially because we read it and process it partially, digestion is slow and the lack of criticism is sometimes indigestible.
"The fact of communicating, that's a lot more than just listening, reading, paying attention, imitating others" Mapa, 4.22.03)
This description makes the ITC meaningful, like instruments that make easy collective reflection, the exchange of experiences, the synchronous and asynchronous articulation of time and space of exchange, oriented and organized to facilitate learning and the collective building of knowledge.
From these perspectives, the virtual communities become "communities of communities", like spaces to experience learning and a permanent building of knowledge.
"It is a process in which the human being "builds himself at an intellectual level (building of categories) while simultaneously building new knowledge". (...) It is, therefore, necessary to visualize and make visible the contribution to those processes of building and individual self-building in intellectual activities such as the Virtual Community... In that sense, the beginning of the social and individual process since the ITCs have applied to collective reflection is tremendously significant. For the first time we have a different way of sharing our experiences and ideas. That new way is allowing those who used to live in the outskirts of life to come together, to participate, to contribute, to learn and be part of others' learning processes". Proposing the idea that "community over community (for instance, MISTICA), as the place where learning is experienced, knowledge is built and simultaneously, the own process of learning is reflected upon" (Mapa, 4.24.03).
"Virtual communities of 'community over communities as the human space helping develop intellectual skills, thus becoming a community for learning'... Suggesting at the same time the dialogue as a privileged means of exchange and confrontation of experiences". Only when we live experiences that defy our schemes representing reality, we get the chance to learn... That is why virtual communities represent a pedagogical opportunity as they allow us to develop cognitive and metacognitive skills. An analysis suggests the need to give children the chance to live challenging experiences and not plain recommendations or chunks of information" (Mapa, 4.29.03).
We all agree that the world with the ITCs is different from the one we know
(thus adopting a new dimension). Every time someone proposes
(through the ITCs) a situation related to that other "half world"
(unconnected) and we adopt or get adopted by ourselves, in 5D18.
This dimension is regarded as a wide moment-space, your own and another's at the same time (Victor S., 5.2.03).
That is, I appropriate my own reality or someone else's, distant or close, share it, reflect upon it, compare it critically, make a decision and consequently, if possible, I act.
�Thanks to new dimensions, the classic distances fade away and the classic time turns into "spatial" time, omnipresent, parallel, and concomitant! It is a world to explore and invent. Using the Internet, distances are practically erased (...) the web is an enormous virtual library� (VS, 5.30.03)
In logic starting from the concrete it is always necessary to articulate the cognitive and metacognitive abilities critically to reality; in this way 5D carries out its integral function since it articulates both experience and knowledge.
"Besides developing cognitive and metacognitive abilities, (...) the VCs need to articulate these abilities with reality in a congruent19
fashion, and this articulation is the point where all the other learning strategies are combined or merged (inferring from JP, 4.30.03).
Taking this into account,
"5D presupposes the total awareness including both experience and knowledge" (JP, 4.30.03).
Because of its own characteristics and labor the MISTICA VC is considered to be a community of communities, working collaboratively, sympathetically, plurally and inclusively toward the aims of development, from and in that 5D.
"5D is not exclusive in MISTICA! But it emerged for the first time in MISTICA and it just came to life and developed... thus MISTICA becomes the first source of those ideas" (VS, 4.30.03)
3.1. Wisdom Sharing Societies (WSSs)
For these reasons we propose the concept of �Wisdom Sharing Societies (WSSs)20,
regarded as those societies where information, knowledge, wisdom and experiences are shared and processed thanks to individual and collective experiences, and at the same time incorporated into daily life, critically and questioningly, for the individual and collective transformation, shared again (SJ, 4.20.03).
"This circular process must strengthen the application of diversity, plurality, solidarity and the means necessary for individual and collective transformations desired and thus catalyzing the aspects that develop the human being integrally: physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually (SJ, 4.20.03).
"This term includes 'wisdom' as a concept deeply rooted in the human being and his subjectivity; 'sharing' involves communication, solidarity and the concept of learning communities. 'Partage', in French, has the same meaning: profoundly humane and generous" (note: "Soci�t�s des Savoirs Partag�es") (DP, 4.5.03).
In English: Wisdom Sharing Societies, in which wisdom involves knowledge from groups of people and it is implicitly assumed that knowledge is applied, lived, experienced. (KR, 4.9.03)
"The term SsSC favors Castilian, since it leads directly to wisdom, a concept that should be in the shared perspective of our humanity, beyond any difference of culture"21
. (DP, 4.5.03)
3.2. Principles based on the dreamed WSSs
The WSSs should be based on the classic principles supporting respect for life in all its forms and the right every human being has to grow in all the planes of existence: physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual. The principles are: inclusion, pro-active participation, plurality, respect for cultural diversity, solidarity (regarded as the highest manifestation of love), equality, equity and democratization of the will of people.
The coherent and efficient application of these principles intends to achieve:
- The total eradication of every form of discrimination and oppression
- The elimination of social gaps as a base of nourishment and proliferation of digital gaps
- The promotion of positive policies and discrimination actions favoring the underprivileged sectors of societies.
In terms of the ICTs this is interpreted as22:
To consider the Internet as a communication network between 'people', as a space for interaction between human beings, created by ourselves for our own benefit. In this sense the ICTs and the Internet are tools for the transformation of societies. The advantages of Internet don't come from the connection itself but from the effects that this produces in synergy with other applied strategies, such as:
- Establishing communication and information strategies aimed at the production of changes in current social, economic, political and cultural relationships, through:
- the improvement of life conditions of the poorest sectors, aiming at the decrease of the social gap (read poverty) and its digital manifestation;
- the elimination of the existing differences in Internet-related costs and technology know-how (technical, costs, educational, linguistic and cultural barriers;
- the promotion of equal opportunity access;
- the promotion of common sense use, relating the technological needs and interests
(practical and strategic23)
of the different social groups and the search for alternatives to solve them by using the Internet;
- the social appropriation of the Internet, giving it a meaning in social groups' everyday life, a function as an instrument for the generation of knowledge and
individual and social (collective) self-construction;
- the decentralization and popularization of the will of people, articulating both synchronously and asynchronously the times and spaces of interaction and reaction for the action.
- Give privilege to, and prioritize, the processes in development programs and projects, since we already understand that the efforts and resources to reduce the digital gap must not be centered around machines but communitarian, organizational and national processes, so the technology benefits can reach most of the population, to guarantee the appropriation of the obtained results.
The most important issue will be that the Internet becomes a useful tool for the less privileged social groups so they can generate new knowledge to improve their life conditions and transform the societies in which they live in.
(Up to here the quotation of the document "Visi�n Social de la Internet" ["Social Vision of the Internet"]).
Likewise, we consider it is fundamental that the social perspective of the ICTs be incorporated as a starting point for the development programs and projects, articulating the other perspectives (genre, culture and environment).
The dreamed WSSs should contribute:
- "to reestablish the bonds of participation, collaboration and collective construction in every aspect of human activity;
- "to the full development of human potentialities, so they can be put to the service of communities in creative, meaningful processes; thus making possible social happiness;
- "to form a society willing to reach peace in peace". (Roxana G, 4.08.03)
- to guarantee and promote the inclusion and proactive participation in all aspects.
"after defining what we desire, we establish dialectically what we exclude, what we reject. The values used to make this definition are precisely those values, shared or not, for which we fight to make them prevail" (LGR, 4.8.03)
"the ideals aren't meant for reaching out, but for modeling the processes that lead to changes, and therefore, are indispensable"; "focused on the way rather than on destination" (RG and LGR, 4.8.03).
"(My son) has told me he dreams of a world where dragons24
aren't treated as demons, because for some, they are gods" (Raisa, 7.14.03).
"In a society of information absolutely everyone is included, because the primary objectives are teaching and everyone's participation, since every human being is capable of adding something new... (Juan Carlos Salgado, collaborator).
"In this sea of dreams from the imaginary Latin American and Caribbean scenery we rescue the principles of the Bolivarian constitution of 1999, as a formalized and legalized utopia defended by the Venezuelan people. It embodies the sentiment, the craving and the search of our people:
"...to rebuild the Republic in order to establish a democratic, participative and imperative society, at the same time multiethnic and multicultural in a federal and decentralized State of justice, consolidating the values of liberty, independence, peace, solidarity, common good, territorial integrity, coexistence and predominance of law for this and future generations. It must assure the right to life, work, culture, education, social justice and equality without any discrimination or subordination; it must promote the pacific cooperation between the nations, encourage and consolidate the Latin American integration according to the principle of non-intervention and self-determination of the peoples, the universal and indivisible guarantee of human rights, the democratization of the international society, nuclear disarmament, the ecologic balance and the environment along with the common patrimony of humanity, which shall not be waived... Preamble of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 1999..." (quoted by IP, 4.12.03)
[12] This refers to the knowledge that words and ideas can't be transmitted, and we can only acquire them by experience or "realization" (YK, U, 4.24.03)
[13] It is about an open brotherhood of virtual Samaritans, where all of us know how to do something, we are skilled. The question is to take advantage of the Internet as a socio-technical system to build personal networks of mutual support. It starts by identifying who knows what to do well and, whenever they are required, you can ask their help. See:
http://www.funredes.org/mistica/english/cyberlibrary/participants/ (Alfonso Orantes, U, 4.7.03)
[14] It refers to MISTICA VC
[15] MISTICA Collective document, "Trabajando la internet con vision social" ["Working out the Internet with a social vision"], Sept. 2002
http://www.funredes.org/mistica/english/cyberlibrary/thematic/eng_doc_olist2.html
[16] Norma Valle, Bertha Hiriart and Ana Mar�a Amado, "El ABC de un periodismo no sexista", ["The ABC of a Non-Sexist Journalist"] Espacio para la Igualdad, Fempress, Santiago, Chile, March 1996
[17] �Trabajando la Internet con una Visi�n Social� [�Working the Internet with a Social Vision�], a MISTICA VC collective document, Sept. 2002
(http://www.funredes.org/mistica/english/cyberlibrary/)
[18] See http://www.5d.org
[19] The term congruent makes reference to critically articulating those abilities to reality.
[20] In the "II Coloquio Tres Espacios Ling��sticos: Cooperaci�n, Diversidad y Paz" ["2nd Three Linguistic Spaces Colloquium: Cooperation, Diversity and Peace"], held in Mexico, DF, from April 2 to April 4 2003; by the Organizaci�n Internacional de la Francofon�a - OIF, Uni�n Latina and Oragnizaci�n de los Estados Iberoamericanos - OEI and S. Jansen participated suggesting that it would better to call them "Wisdom Societies", because wisdom sums up all the aspects that give integrity to the development of the human being integrally: physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual. Then, Samasseku (WSIS) explained he had previously talked about "societies of wisdom" and Annick Thebia-Melsan (from Guyana) continued the reflection by adding the aspect of "sharing".
[21] This confirms and meets the original suggestion proposed by SJ in Mexico �Sociedades de las Sabidur�as� [�Wisdom Societies�]
[22] Taken from the MISTICA collective document, "Trabajando la Internet con Visi�n Social" ["Working the Internet with social vision"]
(http://www.funredes.org/mistica/english/cyberlibrary/thematic/eng_doc_olist2.html)
[23] (note): We can borrow from the genre analysis the division of needs and interests into strategic and practical. We suggest in this way the practical needs of the ITCs (PNIct) are those derived from the present life conditions and the interests generated from technology by them. These are direct and they have to do with survival and refer to material conditions. The strategic needs of the ICTs (ENIct), will then answer to the unfair social position among the citizens, in order to undo the hierarchy among social sectors. They intend to seek a more equalitarian society and the democratization of power relationships and decision-making; thus oriented towards the political and cultural aspects. For instance, overcoming divisions of work and roles according to which social sector they belong to or rather the region - Northern countries as producers and Southern countries as consumers. These strategic needs then could be related to the visualization and analysis of subordination of population sectors or the so-called peripheral countries. (Adapted from Angela Hern�ndez, �Gu�a de capacitaci�n en
an�lisis de g�nero�, [�Training Guide in Genre Analysis�], Iniciativa caribe�a de g�nero, Equipo de Referencia Nacional de la RD, Ed. B�ho SD, RD Sept. 1996)
[24] The dragons symbolize the Yang (masculine) energy and oriental belief says that it represents a pregnant woman during this period, thus marking a time division. The woman cannot conceive at this time, but she will be able to do it very soon, as it happens with any season potentially apt for new crops, breastfeeding and fruits... unlike other animals it is a mythological animal. In the West it is considered an evil creature, a malicious monster. In the East it is venerated, respected and symbolizes heavenly protection... the dragon is capable of transforming itself, assuming any form, disguising itself or vanishing in the air... its protective energy makes crops grow in the country... (taken from the Chinese Horoscope 2002, Ludovica Squirru, Barcelona, Spain).
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