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Talking To Tweeting, A 'History Of Communications'

Flickr Creative Commons, ky_olsen

http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Commodore%20Skahill/Colin%20McEnroe%20Show%2001-27-2011.mp3

You could argue that one of the big breaks in the history of knowledge is happening right now, as we move from being storers of knowledge to being adept searchers for what is stored.

There's a basic shift in the notion of what education is. Most of us moved through an education pipeline in which existed some vague notion that you were better off loading a lot of stuff into your head. It would help you think. It would give you points of reference. You should know a lot of things.

I'm not even sure a modern middle school student would agree with the last proposition. Why should you know a lot of things? It's more important to know how to look them up. There's a running debate about who was the last person to know everything. Let's say it was John Stewart Mill on a really good day. That means that for almost 150 years, searchability was getting more important.

Leave your comments below, e-mail colin@wnpr.org or Tweet us @wnprcolin.

Colin McEnroe is a radio host, newspaper columnist, magazine writer, author, playwright, lecturer, moderator, college instructor and occasional singer. Colin can be reached at colin@ctpublic.org.

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