Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led many of us to consider the conditions under which ideas may be disseminated and expressed. Putin’s government has shown that in order to carry out operations such as the war against Ukraine, popular opinion needs to be controlled. And thus also what ideas and ideas may appear in public conversation.
During Saturday morning’s running round, I put, a bit of a coincidence, on an episode of my favorite podcast “Philosophize this!“. The episode was devoted to Karl Popper’s views on totalitarianism, based on his book Open Society and Its Enemies. The episode was published on January 16, which means that Stephen West, the creator of the podcast, had no idea how relevant the episode would be just a month later.
Apart from the fact that Popper’s description, which is based on the totalitarian forces unleashed during World War II, is terribly consistent with how Russian president Vladimir Putin seems to reason today (that the Russian society needs to be cleansed of scum and traitors for a higher purpose, etc.), Popper highlights something that got me thinking about the collaborative processes we’re engaged in the course “Open Network Learning”. Popper argues that we often tend to be too focused on the end goal, utopias, about how fantastic the end result can be. Following our entusiasm, we sacrifice important elements in the process itself and miss the value of what we learn through the collaboration itself. At a societal level, this is of course about democracy and the right to express different ideas, but from a pedagogical and learning perspective, I think it’s about taking advantage of ideas spread on our online platforms. Through these platforms, we create networks that are open to everyone who have an interest in contributing to the purpose of the network.
The course “Open Network Learning” democratizes knowledge and the assimilation of knowledge, not only within the boundaries of a particular nation state, but also for learners who are under different governing systems. Such pluralistic open networks prevent controlling of ideas and, thus, totalitarianism.
Stephen West’s work and the podcast “Philosophize This!” is in itself an excellent example of what is emphasized as part of the pedagogical basis of this course, namely openness in the educational process. The podcast is distributed freely and can be listened to free of charge by anyone who has, for example, Spotify or Acast. Transcripts from all episodes are published on the podcast’s website. The podcast is an excellent example of a learning resource that provides and democratizes learning for learners around the world and with different conditions.
Alastair Creelman säger:
Interesting and very relevant post. I find the present development of authoritarianism in the world very disturbing and ONL is an oasis of openness and collaboration. We live in a time of contrasts especially in how the internet has developed. On one hand it offers global communication and great opportunities for collaboration, democracy and multicultural understanding but at the same time it is a place to spread hatred, disinformation and surveillance.
mars 21, 2022 — 11:11 f m
Johan säger:
Indeed, and I think it’s still relevant to discuss how the internet also creates filter bubbles and narrowing peoples ideological frames. Internet in itself isn’t enough to create open societies, but perhaps reasonable people creating stimulating platforms might contribute?
mars 27, 2022 — 12:41 e m
Marwa Amri säger:
Great post, Johan! I agree that we need more solutions to bridge any existing gaps between people belonging to utterly different ideologies, political systems, and states of knowledge. Courses like ONL are one path, but there are a million other paths that should be fostered. However, as we might wonder, to what extent a course governed by a course syllabus can manage to bridge this gap and enhance dialogue? I totally agree with the affordances of this course in terms of collaboration and openness, but I think it is a bit too ambitious to beat the growing fascism. I think we need solutions like Nietzsche’s Hammer 😀
mars 28, 2022 — 6:11 f m
johahogm säger:
Totally agree with you Marwa. What struck me when I started this course was that I started thinking about how much of my own online communication that isn’t qualitative communication but more of taking part of people’s already established opinions. Seeing people and talking, even through a camera, is quite powerful compared to reading short texts that fly around the internet.
mars 28, 2022 — 9:05 f m
Tuomas säger:
Excellent blog post. Authoritarian forces in the world work against openness in many ways. One is the blatant distortion of truth and spreading misinformation. Another is the official response to the attack to Ukraine. For example, many Finnish universities have now ordered their staff to cut all research cooperation with Russian or Belarussian institutions. I will check out the Popper you referenced.
april 5, 2022 — 8:56 f m