Holotopia
Contents
Holotopia
Think about the world at the twilight of the Middle Ages and the dawn of the Renaissance: devastating religious wars, terrifying epidemics… Imagine Galilei in house arrest, whispering “eppur si muove” into his beard. Recall that the problems of the epoch were not resolved by focusing on those problems, but by a slow and steady development of an entirely new approach to knowledge. Several centuries of comprehensive and accelerated evolution followed. Could a similar advent be in store for us today?
Seeing things whole
We have recently completed and documented a prototype of a candidate new approach to knowledge, and called it knowledge federation. The mission of holotopia is to complete that prototype, by federating knowledge federation.
In holotopia we represent knowledge federation by the pseudonym holoscope; and we use knowledge federation (or federation) only as a verb.
We define the holoscope by the ideogram on the right, with the help of the one below. The holoscope is the suitable new 'headlights', designed to be used for illuminating themes, issues and directions. The holoscope can be pointed at any theme or issue. By illuminating what has remained obscure or hidden, it lets us it as a whole – its undistorted shape, and correct proportions.
Making things whole
The future is brilliant
When the new 'headlights' are used, what results is a cleear vision of the holotopia – and of 'course' that takes us there
The holotopia is a more desirable vision of the future than the common utopias tend to be. Yet it is practically realizable. The reason is that we already own the knowledge needed for its fulfillment.
Margaret Mead wrote:
One necessary condition of successfully continuing our existence is the creation of an atmosphere of hope that the huge problems now confronting us can, in fact, be solved—and can be solved in time."The holotopia vision achieves that, and significantly more—it provides for an engagement where we are not "solving problems", but building a human condition that is radically better than what we have today.
The future begins now
We don't, however, need to wait for the vision to become reality to enjoy the holotopia. It is now, before the realization, that the creative opportunities are most abundant.
Five insights
The project
Remember the Renaissance: Isn't it the art, of Leonardo and of Michelangelo, that we tend to remember most? Holotopia is an art project; with a similar ambition. What would art need to be like, in this age, to be able to play a similarly transformative role? It is to that timely question that we want to most humbly contribute.
The mission of Holotopia as a prototype or project is to develop whatever is needed for "changing course" – and reaching the holotopia.
The box
The virtual space
Imagine the holotopia as a new continent. This continent doesn't need to be physically isolated, not any more. On the contrary. It can grow in our midst. The point is, however, to have physical and virtual spaces.
The key is the holotopia virtual space which includes physical spaces, with suitable affordances and group dynamics by which the holotopia vision can be realized.
The point here is to provide the right kind of affordances, the right 'furniture' – for the new kind of interaction to take place.
And yet the most important achievement here is this new dynamic – we create cultural forms and norms... Art has been moving in this direction anyway. The modern art liberated itself in form from the traditional arts. Art was, aptly, a rebellion. And the next step? Of course – it's re-creation...!
A vocabulary
Just as science did at the point of its arrival, the holotopia brings along a collection of keywords which encode a new way of seeing and speaking.
The stories
The story explains the exact mission of holotopia by federating Margaret Mead's familiar dictum:
What exactly distinguishes "a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens" that is able to make a world of difference? It is exactly that key idea that the Holotopia undertakes to federate.Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.