Universal Journal
A universal journal is principally an automatic merger of accumulated news or events, expressed in a graph language like Havel. The underlying idea is that as news and stories are authored, a story abstract is created which roots them semantically in the universal journal. The abstract merges with the journal automatically. Events in the news that develop over multiple news cycles don’t detach. Related events are automatically visible as such. Relations between involved entities become transparent. The abstract can be authored multi-dimensionally, reflecting different viewpoints, interpretations or even opinions. It can take advantage of Havel’s designated digital signatures system in order to allow automatic information trustworthiness assessments.
Practically, a universal journal will have to be composed of multiple layers. One layer is a basic knowledge base that provides rudimentary, factual information and semantic tokens for verified events and recognized persons and entities of public interest. Another layer can consist of redacted information about entities and events; a kind of historical accumulation of information including its trustworthiness assessment. This layer can also include false, misleading or opinionated information, they just need to be marked as such or be modelled into appropriate dimensions. The top-most layer would consist of recent news, information that have been reported but need to be sorted, verified and put into context and relation. Once a new information is redacted it can move into a lower layer.
Once news are authored and published, their abstracts dissolve in the top-most layer and are rooted in lower, steadier layers. When the news are presented to readers, related information from all layers is automatically visualized and readers can query, browse and analyze it. This functionality goes much further than linked articles in online news stories or encyclopedias. First of all, basically any related information in any direction and depth is principally accessible at any time, automatically. Further, the journal is fully semantic, allowing readers to express very specific queries over arbitrary information, allowing them to dive very deep into a topic. The fundament of the journal is chaotic, structure is created ad-hoc when needed, and the journal allows its users to create order from chaos by putting related information bits into the right context; a process that can allow to gain new insight.
A universal journal and its layers are not necessarily monolithic knowledge bases but can be a homogeneous network consisting of many separate repositories, each with their distinct purpose or specialty. Different organizations can for example corporate in order to build a base and mid layer and specialize or be in competition over the top layer.
A universal journal does not forget. Information is not buried under heaps of 24 hour news cycles, relevant events are not forced into remote corners of consciousness by attention grabbing, distracting noise. Information can be dynamically qualified, its importance can diminish over time and relational distance to current events but that mechanism cannot be forced with diversionary tactics.
A universal journal can take input not only from its authors but also from its readers, therefore be a just-in-time meter for the state of a community. It can act as a kind of common conscience, a reminder of important events and facts that would otherwise be repressed by the noise of daily news. It can fill the void between news organization and encyclopedia, between short-lived information bites and settled knowledge. It can be a source for those who cannot or do not want to follow daily news and it can be a reminder and long term memory for those who do. Over time it can develop into a semantic history book of unequaled depth.
This post is part of a comprehensive introduction into SRDM, graph languages and Havel.
Continue reading: Universal ERP
Comments