Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Rhizo Narratology: Decentralized Processes

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Beyond the title this article is all about complexity versus the great man theory, and barely mentions rhizo narratology at all. No matter. It's still a useful discussion of the role of the individual as a causal agent in a complex world, eventually landing on the position that a person like Steve Jobs is 'necessary but not sufficient' for the invention of the iPhone. I personally am not even sure he is necessary. We had smart phones before Jobs - just ask Blackberry - and a lot of which made the iPhone the phenomenon it was were the design and the marketing, both of which also existed independently of Jobs. Not that I am asserting some sort of historical necessity here - individual decisions do matter. But you need them from many interconnected people, not just one great man.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Apr 27, 2024 3:32 p.m.

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