Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

This is a good paper that feels like it ends halfway through its topic. In the E-Learning 3.0 course (I'll have more on that Friday) we discussed the ideas that community is consensus - not the results of consensus, necessarily, but a shared process of consensus. This article looks at the relation between epistemology (the philosophy of knowledge) and consensus, looking at different models of consensus-formation, and then (briefly) the role of dissent, and (even more briefly) consensus-building algorithms. Worth noting: while on the one hand "dissent is not a temporary glitch to be overcome, and consensus is not the end of inquiry" it remains true that "dissent may be epistemically detrimental, especially dissent stemming from manufactured uncertainty or doubt mongering." Image: IPWatch.
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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2024 08:53 a.m.

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