(2009-06-07) Dent Knowledge Synthesis

Chris Dent notes Eugene Eric Kim (of Blue Oxen) and I, in our too infrequent conversations, often return to the topic "What happened to wikis?" Somewhere along the way the popular conception of a Wiki transformed from a tool for synthesizing new understandings (Thinking Space) in a group to a tool for representing topical information which can refined. In many modern wikis, UI affordances emphasize the single page (WikiWyg) and the fact that it is editable rather than the entire wiki and its nature as an evolving (visible by recent changes) networked (via hyperlinks) (HyperText) corpus of shared understandings (Shared Meaning). A traditional wiki is a synthesizing tool when it exposes or strengthens the connections between distant concepts and categories. The group using a wiki learns by exposing, exploring and, eventually, refining those connections.