Post # 4 Authority and the Internet (Michael Gorman, again)

I slogged through Michael Gorman’s discourse on the Internet and the decline of authority, and had a variety of reactions.  The first is that the concept of authority is just to broad to define with one brush.

Authority comes in many guises.There is of course the written authority: researched, analyzed, and documented.  These authorities are usually recognized until new evidence is produced to prove the point otherwise. Is the authority that is recognized always right? No. (think the Catholic Church and Galileo)  Is the authority immediately  recognized? No. (Galileo, again.) Is the authority always documented and published? No, and there’s the rub.

Think of how many people are authorities– through research, persistence and hard work who don’t publsh books, articles or theses. Are they less of an authority?  I don’t think so.  Blogging, wikis, and electronic documentation give publishing access  to those (who are familiar with the medium) who otherwise would take their knowledge to the grave. I’m thinking of the example of the mechanic who just “knows” what is wrong with your car (regardless of what the manual says), based on his/her experience.

Information is not static. As soon as it is captured on the printed page it is subject to addition, correction and obsolescence.  Just as there are too many claiming unwarranted authority, there is the “authority” claiming unproven truths. The new information  model allows for both error and correction.   As it should.

It’s the little bits that make up the whole mosaic of human knowledge.