Like most people, I am big supporter of open source for pretty much anything under the sun. I do have have high hopes for "do-it-yourself-biology" and anybody with even a cursory knowledge of history understands it's immense potential. Here is a fantastic post starting with this great quote and bashing open source:
"Intellectuals in their self-flattering wish-fulfillment say that knowledge is power, but the truth is that knowledge further empowers only those who have or can acquire the power to use it."
This is a quintessential quixotic dreamer trying to take us back in time. Platonic dialogues cannot rationalize and change the ground reality. We have to give them credit for trying but society simply doesn't work that way. It never has and probably never will.
Open source was and is never meant to be an alternative for University education or any other traditional venues of epistemological quest. Open source is a launch pad for hidden geniuses who want thrive in-spite of - insurmountable bureaucracy, lacking social skills, being autistic, financially constrained, geographical limitations, being a women victimized by culture, religious dissonance and every other conceivable adversities some misfortunates among us face. Unlike woo-meisters, open source is real and quantifiable hope for the unfortunate. It has already proven itself to be precocious and will continue to evolve to be a competing force. May be its not yet explicitly exploited by the unfortunate but that doesn't mean it cannot or will not be. Open source is not a panacea but bashing the very concept of open source for quixotic dreams is ridiculous. Open source provides a venue to acquire and empower knowledge even when all odds are against them.
"Intellectuals in their self-flattering wish-fulfillment say that knowledge is power, but the truth is that knowledge further empowers only those who have or can acquire the power to use it."
This is a quintessential quixotic dreamer trying to take us back in time. Platonic dialogues cannot rationalize and change the ground reality. We have to give them credit for trying but society simply doesn't work that way. It never has and probably never will.
Open source was and is never meant to be an alternative for University education or any other traditional venues of epistemological quest. Open source is a launch pad for hidden geniuses who want thrive in-spite of - insurmountable bureaucracy, lacking social skills, being autistic, financially constrained, geographical limitations, being a women victimized by culture, religious dissonance and every other conceivable adversities some misfortunates among us face. Unlike woo-meisters, open source is real and quantifiable hope for the unfortunate. It has already proven itself to be precocious and will continue to evolve to be a competing force. May be its not yet explicitly exploited by the unfortunate but that doesn't mean it cannot or will not be. Open source is not a panacea but bashing the very concept of open source for quixotic dreams is ridiculous. Open source provides a venue to acquire and empower knowledge even when all odds are against them.
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