Accessible knowledge is key to facing the future

As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, it’s tempting to think that many of the institutions that were founded in the previous centuries are now out of date. History is scrutiny, so it is testament to the success of a body like UNESCO that it continues to not only be relevant, but also formative, in our understanding of the world 73 years after it was first founded.

In the latest edition of the Creative Intelligence podcast I spoke with UNESCO’s Section Chief of Research, Policy & Foresight, John Crowley. John explained that much of the organization’s original mission, to rebuild the world of ideas and intellectual cooperation on the rubble of the Second World War, had largely been achieved by the 1960s. The mission then changed to render that momentum into the advocacy of culture and knowledge that we see today.

That meant a two pronged approach, said John: “First, how can we generate the knowledge we need in order to deal with the social challenges we face? So our task is to work with knowledge producers to create the context within which knowledge can be produced in the ways that the world needs.

“And then secondly, find ways of using that knowledge. So not just produce it for academic references, publish it, make it available, but also create the connections, the bridges, the webs of interaction with the political and social universes so that that knowledge can be used in ways that make a difference everywhere.”

It’s this second point that I find so compelling. Throughout my career I’ve been fortunate enough to witness and work with the evolution of the digital space. For a long time I was one of the many observers who stood around in awe of the universe we were creating, repeating the question — “what does it all mean?” We all knew the internet would change everything, but we just didn’t know how or, really, why.

I believe it’s only been in the last 18 months that we’ve begun to fathom this question. We’re now able to actually use the knowledge we’ve acquired and apply it to our understanding of the digital world and what it means for human existence. I’ve been able to see this through our work on digital anthropology and our liaisons with UNESCO and the Sorbonne University in Paris.

But, of course, I still feel like a privileged observer on this journey. Speaking with people like John gives an incredible insight into how he sees the phenomenon of digital anthropology. As we move forward into this unknown region of knowledge, John reminded us that assumption is the root of ignorance. He mentioned a famous story about electric solar powered stoves in Africa’s Sahel region:

“So the engineers, development experts and economists came back six months later and found the solar cookers corroding away unused. Why? Because they’d forgotten to check what the cultural practices around cooking were in that particular part of the world. They’d missed something that every anthropologist knew, which is that for strong cultural reasons, cooking was supposed to be done after dark.”

It’s an anecdote that is illustrative of both the challenges of understanding culture and the importance of anthropology when it comes to really utilizing the knowledge we have.

It was amazing to speak with John and I very much hope you’re able to join us by listening to the podcast, which you can do here.