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The need for "Research Quality" search engines
Opportunities for improvement -- Serving society
The underlying point of all that follows is: Let's democratize search. Search today is centralized. Society would be better served if the gathering of information, sharing it, searching it, and refining it were in the hands of the people. You are invited to offer your opinions and comments at the bottom of this page.
Freedom
Freedom is not universally understood or respected. Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian, paid a year-long visit to the United States between 1948 and 1950. Qutb was revolted by what he saw. He equated it with "Jahiliyya", the barbarism that preceded the foundation of Islam. He wrote in his book Signposts on the Road (1964) that "No one is more distant than the Americans from spirituality and piety." Qutb's problem was freedom. Freedom is messy. People can choose. People sometimes make bad choices. Qutb's solutions were striking. He advocated a fundamentalist vision of Shariah, on the premise that where freedom is reduced, there is less opportunity for immorality. He also (not very kindly) declared non-fundamentalist Islamic leaders to be infidels.
Sayyid Qutb profoundly influenced Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and Osama bin Laden.
You know the rest of the story.
Western civilization is a series of experiments in freedom. We learn from these experiments slowly. We understand now that "If it feels good, do it" is merely license; it is not freedom. We realize more and more that, unless freedom is exercised under the self-imposed restraints of mutual respect and consideration for others, it devolves into chaos. But where there is true freedom, there can be mutual accountability, responsible maturity, love, and a cohesiveness in society that a ton of Qutbs and bin Ladens and Jihadists can never overcome.
Dictators versus knowledge tools in the hands of the people
When the Soviet Union fell, the Internet was an instrument in its downfall. Information was flowing in all directions. We recall the images of the hard-liners having to return Gorbachev after their failed coup. The flow of information was also a factor when the Polish people in mutual solidarity made the conscious decision to step back from the lying and mutual spying encouraged by the Communist regime.
If sharing and collaboration are built into the tools we use for learning, these tools undercut the people who would impose totalitarian rule over us.
Politicians and other polarizers
Closer to home, political parties would have us believe that their ideology is right, that their opponents are the source of most of what is wrong in society, and that only when "our" party holds power will the future unfold as it should. Attack-dog ideologues have come to dominate news reports about politics. Polarization makes people lose confidence in the political process. In October 2006, prior to the United States off-year election, pollsters reported that only 16 percent of voters believed that Congress is doing a good job.
The responsible citizen seeks to be informed. Decentralized tools help. Blogging (self-publishing on the Internet) has given voice to the middle ground abandoned by the ideologues. Search tools carry it to the next stage. The citizen armed with effective knowledge tools can find the information needed to defend against attempts from every side to manipulate public opinion.
Respect for people
Elsewhere we have argued that the contemporary Internet search engines treat people with less than total respect. Decentralization would overcome that problem. Put all the tools -- data collection, data refining, indexing, search -- in the hands of the people. The Internet went a long way toward democratizing information. The need for "Research Quality" search would carry us to the next stage.
Your feedback
Your comments on this page would be welcomed.
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