Web Destroys Categories, Disciplines and Hierarchies
May 21st, 2007 | by Neal Levene |
A few weeks ago I found an interesting article on Boing Boing about how the Web Destroys Categories, Disciplines, and Hierarchies. It discusses the book: Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder
David Weinberger’s “Everything is Miscellaneous” is the kind of book that binds together innumerable miscellaneous threads and makes something new, coherent, and incontrovertible out of them. Weinberger’s thesis is this: historically, we’ve divided the world into categories, topics, and hierarchies because physical objects need to be in one place or another, they can’t be in all the places they might belong. Computers and the Internet turn this on its head: because a computer can “put things” in as many categories as they need to be in, because individuals can classify knowledge, tasks, and objects idiosyncratically, the hierarchy is revealed for what it always was, a convenient expedient masquerading as the True Shape of the Universe.
Source: Boing Boing
Peter Merholz from the blog Peterme reviewed the book saying:
What sets David’s book apart from other recent texts covering similar ground (say Ambient Findability
and Shaping Things
) is that, fundamentally, it is not a book on information or technology; it’s a work of philosophy. David has a doctorate in Philosophy, and it shows on every page.
I mean this in a good way–David’s background gives him a perspective quite distinct from others involved in this conversation, and it’s valuable in connecting his themes with a larger purpose. Because David’s book isn’t about information, it’s about understanding, knowledge, and meaning — fundamentally, it’s a book on how the human condition is evolving.
Source: peterme
The topic of the book seems really interesting, and I am looking forward to getting a copy. I’d love to hear from anyone who has read the book.
There is a book blog located here. An interview with the author is located here.
Popularity: 6% [?]
