102003inter.htm: Paul Money's interview

~ An Interview ~

				Interview OCT 2003

October 2003
~ Paul Money's Interview with fravia+ ~

Dear fravia, Do you remember coming to Ravensbourne college in South London last year? I was among the students you talked to in ilab1. Having spent a lot of time reading various things on fravia.com, (still not enough) I have a few questions. I am writing my dissertation on 'Freedom On The Web' and any reply would be greatly appreciated.

"knowledge is now free at last, everything should be free from now on, enjoy knowledge and life
and work for everybody else" +ORC

Is knowledge free? How do I pay for my hardware on which to exchange this knowledge?

Yep, knowledge is now free at last. Image being an university student in Tanzania, say, instead of London. The hardware question is irrelevant. Hardware will be there and you will be potentially able to access THE SAME degree of knowledge of a student in New York, Berlin or London. Knowing how to search is another matter of course, but there is no reason to believe that the fellow students in New York, Berlin etcetera know more than you in Tanzania :-)
So, for the first time in the history of humankind, your location is irrelevant. The only important thing is what you know, and what you do with your knowledge. Hardware paying? C'mon, be serious. Hardware is de facto free. A old 486 or pentium 1 with a good linux distro will cost any jobless moron less than a 12-pack beer box, if ever.
And who said you need a pentium 4 to find good knowledge?

I had some other questions, but then I found the answers on your site. I'm supposed to get primary research, but with good searching technique. web or traditional texts, it seems there is no question that cannot be answered.

True. Many people do not realize it, though. For the kick of it, try doing those 'competitions' they publish on some newspapers/magazines: what is this mysterious object? Who said this? And so on... you know how to search and you'll find those answers in three seconds flat... and get a lot of fountain pens and other gadgets and assorted crap for free :-)

But is your approach to information a consequence of being a linguist, being used to conducting research within texts?

I have been teached, for more than 13 years, exegesis of early middle ages sources :-)

Or to put it onto the form of a criticism, what about the unrepresented data of human interactions that doesn't make it to the web? Why worry about information and power structures and so on when they are only the inevitable transformations of symbols? When do we step away from our screens, or books, and make a difference?

We make a difference -mostly- exactly because we DO NOT step away from our books or screens so much. Our books and screens are connected with the whole planet. The nice guy distributing leaflets in the street -may he triumph- wont get the attention of more than 20 local zombies.
You can change (small) portions of the world, like a snow ball that will be avalanche, only if you find the right slopes.

I agree that there is a need to protect our privacy, but you can never be totally private or totally anonymous. When striving to protect your privacy do you not make yourself suspicious to another set of snoopers who have better tools, better tracking devices, more resources?

Yes of course. So what? They do not invent resources, they just use what we produce. Moreover, many of "them" do and did join us when understanding took control of their reflexes. We have some competitive advantages, like vampires infecting non vampires, do not ever forget it.

So is it worth making yourself an enemy on the battleground of information gatherers? What are we trying to hide?

An alternative society, a very delicate concoction, should be handled with care when still in its infancy.

a lot to add... soon or later