I Heart Scientists

"Science is the most successful open and distributed communicative system human beings have ever created" (Vaidhyanathan 131).

In The Anarchist in the Library, Siva Vaidhyanathan looks at the controversies over intellectual property. This is particularly difficult because the product is intangible, and it is particularly important because information processing is the main labor to sell and buy in the current age. Powerful transnational corporations that control culture and finance government have the monetary incentive and the political connections needed to make sure they get paid.

As said, handling information is tricky because of business interests. It is simple because of science. Chapter 9 ("The Anarchy and Oligarchy of Science and Math") discusses the anarchy inherent in the discipline of science, and in academic as a whole. It should be skeptical of the accepted. It should encourage teamwork, peer review, and sharing resources. "[S]cience and academia should be radically democratic" (131).

While I think this type of self-regulating system is a beautiful thing, it must be admitted that its natural anarchy is poisoned by the artificial airs of credentials, which are "inherently oligarchic" (133). Luckily for science, credentials aren't as much a problem as with the humanities because it is "supposed to be unconcerned with questions of nationalism and commercial gain" (133).

Obviously, as Vaidhyanathan explains, science has been increasingly forced by the government, especially in the wake of terrorism, to be less open, but I just wanted to take this blog as an opportunity to pay homage to the discipline of science, which I have avoided ever since arriving at college. I find it very interesting when disciplines dovetail, and love for one can facilitate love (or at least tolerance) for the other. Or better, learning can happen.

One way that I think we Media Studies people, as members of the humanities, can learn from science is by making our culture more prone to information sharing. Computer science and the open source movement (Wikipedia, etc.) are all working in that direction, which is great.

Interestingly, at the Media Studies Conference about 10 days ago, our prof presented on something very relevant called MediaCommons. She'll probably mention it in class but its goal is to "shift the focus of scholarship back to the circulation of discourse." How very "Anarchist in the Library"-esque.

So it looks like Media Studies is learning from Science on how sharing makes everyone happy. :) I really think I should sleep now. I hope that I have given this blog enough closure to be somewhat cohesive. Point: sharing is caring, and I find it interesting that Science and Media Studies are in this together because interdisciplinary cooperation has always been interesting to me. THE END. Good night!