KMbeing

Knowledge Mobilization (KMb): Multiple Contributions & Multi-Production Of New Knowledge

Tag Archives: personal knowledge

Knowledge To Put Things In Perspective Through Social Media

Leave a Comment Posted by on July 26, 2012

In the everyday rhythm of life there will always be good days and bad days. Some days we will feel like our knowledge is making a difference in the world – other days we will often feel like our knowledge is unimportant or ignored – or we may even feel stupid with no knowledge to contribute. Just like the waves of the ocean that ebb and flow – a deep, inner conviction that sharing knowledge every day to make the world a better place will help you weather the storms of insecurities, fears and worries that lash at the feelings that your knowledge is insignificant, and help you recognize that everyone’s knowledge can create change to make the world a better place.

We live in a world where we can connect our individual knowledge and learn from the knowledge of others – thanks to the power of the Internet and social media. Never before in the history of humanity has such tools been so immediate and powerful in communicating so effectively and so vastly. Something like Twitter for example has reshaped the way we can share knowledge and create social benefit and human understanding around the globe on a daily basis. That’s an amazing thing to remember.

Each day, I am reminded of how powerful this can be when I read first-hand tweets about the devastation and war-torn struggles in far-away places from my own, but can connect and communicate with these people through my own and others’ tweets and blogs. I can give them hope for a better future and they can teach me humility and appreciation to count my daily blessings in comparison. I can share my knowledge of the importance of knowledge sharing for social benefit and they can teach me strength in daily conviction to overcome adversity.

For each of us: tomorrow is a promise to no one! Sadly, there always seems to be new reminders of this. No matter where we live on this planet – that applies to all of us. That is something that all of us share. Yet, knowledge is also something that all of us can share to bring change for a better tomorrow.

I once heard someone say there are people who are “ocean personalities” in this world. In their inner depths they are not defeated by the crashing waves that happen to them at the surface, but can teach us through their deep convictions. The towering waves of circumstances cannot reach them when they go deep within to seek the peace that surpasses all understanding. While the surface of life is in turmoil they can find an inner calmness to see them through.  This is not only knowledge to learn from – but wisdom for all of us. This is what Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) is all about. When is the last time you stepped back to think about this in your own life? When is the last time you mobilized knowledge in this way?

Is it possible to share individual knowledge to make the world a better place? What a wonderful part of life sharing knowledge is – and what great opportunities we have to do it every day from our everyday personal experiences through the power of social media. It’s always there – it’s just not in the newspaper headlines or newscasts, not on entertainment shows or reality programming.  It’s in our everyday opportunities to connect with each other’s knowledge in each individual life when we take the time to connect online and share knowledge with others from around the globe to make the world a better place for everyone.

Knowledge sharing for social benefit can come only when we see what really matters and what really is not significant in our lives when we compare ourselves and share our knowledge with others from around the world.  Losing a job or a personal possession is quite a personal blow – but when compared to the possibility of losing your life, your home or your security – it really puts things in perspective.

The daily possibilities of sharing our diversity of knowledge in this world are there for each of us – yet we often keep our own personal knowledge locked away, rarely to be communicated with others beside us, let alone, around the world. We let our own circumstances determine how we feel without thinking about the greater tragedies of others who are dealing with far greater difficulties than our own.

The important thing to remember is that knowledge sharing can put these things in perspective, bring greater human understanding and create possibilities of social benefit for everyone. So, get tweeting, get blogging, get sharing knowledge with others around the globe to make the world a better place!

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Going Into Your Own Deep Knowledge

Leave a Comment Posted by on July 23, 2012

Something good happens if you go deep enough, often enough – daily if you can – into your own knowledge and share that knowledge to make the world a better place.

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Everyone’s Knowledge Has A Part To Play

4 Comments Posted by on June 20, 2012

Sharing knowledge to make the world a better place doesn’t mean having to be “super” intelligent, knowing everything, only sharing with certain people – or only sharing to people and not learning from people.  Many of us are beginning to see that sharing knowledge is about making daily, multi-directional connections with all kinds of different people from all walks of life.

It’s easy for us to see that some people are meant to do some things, while others are not.  We all have differing abilities – and we live in a world of diversity. Music comes easy to some people, while others are really good at writing or sports or connecting with people. We all have our talents that hopefully we continue to develop.

There are differing belief systems and cultures. (I recently found a great website and online worksheet for those interested in a closer examination of these differences).  We live on a planet of diversity. Violence comes easy to some people, while others want to make the world a better, safer place for all.  We just have to believe in the ability and value of sharing and combining our diversity of knowledge to create greater understanding and acceptance for all humanity – and everyone’s knowledge has a part to play in this.

However, when it comes to knowledge, some seem to feel a sense of lack or inequality, a sense that they are never quite smart enough to share knowledge that can contribute to making the world a better place – or that their own knowledge has no value.

All knowledge has value if it is used to help and not harm.

We can all contribute to making the world a better place by sharing knowledge and developing deeper understanding and appreciation of the diversity of individuals and knowledge that exists in this world. Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) is all about making those multi-directional knowledge connections with others from a diversity of knowledge sources to combine knowledge to create new knowledge – and put it into active use for social benefit.

Sharing knowledge to make the world a better place means even sharing experiential knowledge from downtrodden lives that have seemed to have been given little chance to be valued as worthwhile. We don’t need to know everything and only learn from certain people.  We can share knowledge quite fully without being “super” intelligent.

When we avoid daily opportunities in our lives to share our own knowledge and create greater understanding in our diversity, we contribute to the knowledge gaps that divide and segregate us on this planet.  That space is what contributes to our fears, misunderstandings and hatred – and it contributes to our global ignorance.  It gives us a place to hide when we feel insecure about the value of our own knowledge – and if we don’t share our diversity of knowledge, we’re missing the chance to play a personal part in making the world a better place.

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Knowledge Beyond Words Or Sounds

Leave a Comment Posted by on June 13, 2012

Every day we gain knowledge about things, people, ideas, insightful experiences – and every day is an opportunity to share that knowledge to make the world a better place. How often do you stop to think about such a daily opportunity?  Every day we can give of ourselves from our own knowledge to contribute to social benefit and greater understanding around the world.

Personally, I’m always happy to share the knowledge of my life if it can help contribute to improving the world we all live in.  Most of the knowledge I share with other people is what I’ve learned about through my own life experiences – good and bad. This type of knowledge is something we can all share.  And it’s not about being able to pass a test or hold a conversation on a certain topic – it’s about taking the time to share my knowledge with the knowledge of others beyond myself to serve the purpose of creating new knowledge for greater benefit for everyone.

I spend much more time these days trying to share knowledge about who I am and my life experiences, and trying to learn from the vast amounts of knowledge from the world around me – the people and things with whom I share this planet.  Since I’ve started trying to find daily opportunities of sharing knowledge about things beyond mere facts and information, life has become much more gratifying, much more interesting, and much more worthwhile.  My sharing knowledge with and from other people has become easier and deeper, because I now come from a place of genuine interest in the well-being of all my fellow human beings through knowledge mobilization (KMb).

This world is full of knowledge to share to make it a better place – but not all knowledge has to be shared in words or sounds – sometimes knowledge comes through observation and empathy for others.  Not all knowledge communication involves language. We live in a world where there are many languages – so many that we cannot understand. But if we can stop and slow ourselves down and pay attention to all that surrounds us right here and right now in each of our little places on this earth, then we can start to learn to understand the messages that we’re all being given about life and life’s meaning by sharing this knowledge beyond ourselves from every place in this world.

Imagine how our lives might be if everyone on this planet took the time to respect and share knowledge with others to make the world a better place. Suppose people everywhere, simultaneously, stopped what they were doing and paid attention for only as long as it took to recognize our shared knowledge as our shared humanity.  Perhaps the sadness, anger, hatred and pain of the world – visible to all while taking a moment to contribute to our common knowledge – would generate greater understanding and create new and deeper knowledge through knowledge mobilization.  What a gift that would be to make the world a better place.

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Individual Flames Of Knowledge

2 Comments Posted by on May 24, 2012

Every person’s knowledge and all moments of sharing knowledge are potential opportunities to make the world a better place.  There is no person’s knowledge and no time when knowledge sharing is more important than if the purpose is for social benefit.  Many people believe that sharing knowledge in professional and academic ways are the only times when knowledge has value. This removes the majority of people from the responsibility for participating in sharing and receiving anyone’s knowledge to make the world a better place to live in. When sharing knowledge contributes to better understanding and improvement of this vast world we live in – no matter with whom or how it is shared – it is valuable.

It’s pretty amazing to think that my knowledge is just as valuable as many of the people who have spent years in academia, becoming “great and intelligent scholars” and being well known for their vast knowledge.  Somehow we start to think that these people have all the knowledge that can save the world, and better opportunities to do so.  But that’s simply not true.  Every person’s knowledge is valuable if it is shared with the intention of contributing to making the world a better place. Yes, there are some people who accumulate vast amounts of knowledge and accomplish knowledge sharing on broader scales than others – but that doesn’t mean that this type of knowledge or knowledge sharing is better than others. To make the world a better place for everyone requires valuing everyone’s knowledge if it is shared with the intention of social benefit.

When we start to see our own knowledge and the potential of knowledge sharing to contribute to social benefit as somehow less than others, it opens the door to our not seeing ourselves as a desirable source of social benefit for others. Everyone, through life experiences, has acquired knowledge – it’s how you use that knowledge and how you share that knowledge that creates value. This includes how we give advice, share our thoughts and opinions, and remain open to the advice, thoughts and opinions of others.  We don’t always have to agree, but sharing this type of knowledge can lead to better understanding for everyone. It’s how we resolve the disagreements through knowledge sharing that leads to new knowledge and understanding.

Often, we tend to adopt the knowledge of those who are “smarter” than us, not trusting ourselves to be a valid source of knowledge.  When we begin to see our own knowledge as valuable if we share it with the intention for social benefit that is inclusive and respectful of all in our common humanity – our knowledge has value. When we begin to see this, we can begin to make the world a better place for everyone.

We tend to think that valuable knowledge only comes from academics or scientists, and that we ourselves don’t have valuable knowledge to share.  By thinking this way, we are excusing ourselves from any responsibility for making the world better. Everyone’s knowledge and the opportunities to share this knowledge are unique opportunities for making the world better.

We live on a small planet in a vast universe.  Through human history we have progressed forward in recognizing our common humanity – but we have also faltered in fighting each other. When we begin to see the value of each person’s knowledge and all moments of sharing knowledge as potential opportunities to make the world a better place, we continue to progress, not falter.  We all have a place on this earth – we all have knowledge to share; but what is most important is how we use this knowledge that creates value.

Accept this reality about your own knowledge – that your knowledge has value if you use it for social benefit. You are a unique human being who has a place on this earth that no one else can fill. Acknowledge that you have knowledge to share as others do with you. This type of knowledge sharing will form the foundation of a happier, peaceful and satisfying humanity for everyone. Then, as you accept and respect your own knowledge, your own knowledge will be like a flame igniting the flame of others.  Like lighting another person’s candle, your own knowledge is not diminished when it shared, but will shine outward and connect with all the knowledge of others to accept and respect all the knowledge of your fellow human beings.

 

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Knowledge & Perspective: A Take On Homophobia

Leave a Comment Posted by on May 14, 2012

Today, I want to write about knowledge and perspective – how we look at our own knowledge and the knowledge of others in the world around us. Putting things in perspective – particularly knowledge – is one of the most important elements that can help all of us live life more fully and make the world a better place for everyone. The value of knowledge on this planet is not necessarily determined by the way we acquire knowledge (by a higher education degree or by life experience), but by how we perceive knowledge. Far too often we value the former over the later.

Knowledge is acquired each day in many ways.  Gaining knowledge happens all day, every day with all of our interactions with other people. It’s inevitable that someone, some time, is going to share knowledge that we disagree with or that perhaps hurts us in some way.  Some knowledge claims are going to occur that make it seem like the world is never going to change for the better.  But the important thing about that, of course, is how we perceive the diversity of knowledge in this world – how we value this diversity of knowledge to ultimately combine this knowledge to make the world a better place. It’s all about understanding knowledge and perspective.

Take for example a recent viral video of Jane Svoboda, a woman from Nebraska, USA who makes some rather strong claims against gays, lesbians and bisexuals.

From my knowledge perspective I consider her claims to be extremely homophobic (as do many others). But from her knowledge perspective she stands by her convictions (while others laugh) to share her knowledge claims. Is she crazy (as many claim) or just in need of further knowledge? (I later found out that this woman does have mental health issues). Again, it’s all about perspective. Can we still learn from this so-called knowledge? Yes. But do we just leave it there? No – because knowledge to make the world a better place requires action. Yet action that is respectful of others and open to dialogue with others. Creating valuable knowledge to make the world a better place is about combining the diversity of knowledge in this world through action. Knowledge without shared action is useless.

Although I strongly disagree with this woman’s homophobic knowledge claims (some people may claim this isn’t even knowledge), I was extremely impressed with the diplomatic and organized manner in which she was allowed to speak in such a procedural context. It’s always the first step in sharing knowledge to make the world a better place – even though it’s knowledge that we disagree with or perhaps hurts us in some way.

But sharing knowledge is not just a one way street. I would hope that this woman would also be deeply open to listening to the knowledge of others. This is the next step in sharing knowledge to make the world a better place. Being open to dialogue and learning from the diversity of knowledge around us changes our knowledge for social benefit for everyone – and ultimately makes the world a better place for everyone. Knowledge has many perspectives. Combining these perspectives and knowledge is what matters.

So perhaps, instead of laughing at or deriding someone else’s knowledge claims (even though we strongly feel compelled to do so), if we saw this as an opportunity to begin to share knowledge – by combining our knowledge – to make the world a better place for all of us, we might begin to make a difference.

If we take the world and its diversity of knowledge without further action by sharing our knowledge, we will only see the hurt and hate in the world around us. If we keep in mind that there is a diversity of knowledge in the world waiting to be combined – improved for everyone through action – and that all knowledge is a matter of degree – of perspective – we can begin to make a difference. 

In that perspective lies a realistic view of the world that can allow us to take this diversity of knowledge with a high degree of equanimity and pragmatism that tells us that yes, some knowledge claims seem so far-fetched and need to be adjusted – but life on this planet is about a diversity of knowledge. It’s how we share this diversity of knowledge with our actions – how we put this knowledge in perspective – that can make the world a better place.

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Change Is Good For Knowledge

Leave a Comment Posted by on May 3, 2012

We often don’t want things to change.  We want the same old and comfortable things, the same and regular routines, the reliable beliefs and knowledge, the enjoyable jobs, the trustful and loving relationships, the same friends, the innocent children, the enjoyable types of music that reminds us of the “good old days” – and the familiar neighbourhoods that always stay the same.

I’m often torn between the desire to have things stay the same and finding new things in my life that may bring challenges, new perspectives and growth. But as we know – nothing stays the same – not even knowledge. This is what knowledge mobilization is all about. When we want things to stay the same it brings to mind someone who is intolerant of change, intolerant of others – and intolerant of a diversity of knowledge.

We live in a world filled with a diversity of people and a diversity of knowledge. We need to learn to accept that growth is about being open to change based on the concept of accepting others as they are at any given time – with knowledge that may be different from our own.

It’s important for us to learn to combine our knowledge for social benefit rather than trying to exert our will on anything to try to get it not to change so it will stay the same as what we think it should be.  When we accept others and their knowledge as they are at any given time, their value and their uniqueness are clear to us – and we don’t feel a need to keep things the same for our sake.

When we combine such diversity of knowledge for social benefit we begin to deepen understanding, eliminate fear and intolerance, and move towards making the world a better place.

When I think of all the places I have travelled in the world and all the people I have been privileged to meet, I know that all of the diversity of knowledge that I have experienced – and continue to experience – has made me a better person. But we don’t have to be world travellers going to a multitude of countries to share knowledge for social benefit. We are fortunate to be living in a world where we can connect to each other and to the diversity of knowledge in this world thanks to the power of the Internet and social media.

Being open to diverse knowledge, connecting it to our own by combining knowledge, and changing knowledge for social benefit through knowledge mobilization is a unique skill that we all can learn.  When we give up trying to see how our own knowledge is “better” based on our own intolerant social lenses, we learn to combine knowledge for social benefit that can change the world and make it a much happier place for everyone.

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Individual & Global Knowledge

Leave a Comment Posted by on April 13, 2012

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In my Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) KMbeing blogs I often talk about the concepts of individual and global knowledge to make the world a better place. Knowledge is something that everyone has that is active in all disciplines, fields, nations, locations, systems and individuals lives. No one person or country should have exclusivity to knowledge if the ultimate use of knowledge is to make the world a better place.

But far too often, certain disciplines, fields, nations, locations, systems or individuals think they do – especially in developed countries. This is particularly true when we consider what can be called the birthplace of all humanity – Africa.

In a previous KMbeing blog, I wrote about the use of Global Research Universities or GRUs, and I strongly recommended the concept of a portable GRU in the palm of your hand to connect our individual knowledge globally. I stated that in 2009 – according to textually.org, Africa’s digital technology was exploding across the continent as smart phone technology was increasing as much as 500 per cent. A more recent 2011 article states that Africa is now the second largest mobile phone market.

It still makes sense as a goal of higher education – and individual knowledge sharing/mobilization in general – to connect individually/globally within and from impoverished and developing countries by encouraging knowledge mobilization (KMb). Promoting such knowledge sharing through mobile technology makes the world a better place.

No doubt, Africa and other developing countries will continue to see a rise in the use of digital technology. As more individuals around the world have this type of global access and affordable cellular devices, the greater the possibility of seeing the further expansion of knowledge sharing and a more educated global population. A more educated global population makes for greater economic development worldwide, and contributes to greater well-being of all citizens – local and global.

But we must remember that we are a world of diverse knowledge, values and beliefs – north, south, east and west. To use knowledge to make the world a better place requires cooperative knowledge, cooperative values and cooperative beliefs. Using individual and global knowledge requires us to socially interact as never before – and we are incredibly fortunate that we now have the mobile technology to do so. The use of social media has advanced the ability to socially interact and mobilize knowledge across the globe with greater possibilities for global understanding and cooperation.

Using digital technology puts knowledge mobilization – literally – in the hands of everyone. With the burgeoning of digital technology in Africa and other developing countries, perhaps making the world a better place through knowledge mobilization is closer than we think.

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Knowledge You Have, Knowledge You Want & Knowledge You Need

2 Comments Posted by on April 4, 2012

I recently read a very interesting article by Stuart Firestein for Scientific American Online titled What Science Wants To Know.  Firestein’s approach is directed more at scientists and scholars – rightly pointing out that “what makes a scientisit is ignorance.”

Science isn’t just about providing answers and creating new knowledge – science is about the ongoing process of asking questions to gain more knowledge to ask more questions to gain more knowledge to ask more questions… Knowledge continues to evolve as an ongoing process.

On a more holistic level that is inclusive of everyone – this is Knowledge Mobilization (KMb), with everyone sharing the knowledge they have and continuing to ask questions with anyone they meet to constantly evolve knowledge for social beneift – and utltimately make the world a better place.

The pursuit of knowledge isn’t just about the knowledge you have – it’s also about the knowledge you want – and the knowledge you need to make the world a better place. Firestein’s reminder that science is more about the questions than the answers isn’t just something exclusive to scientists and scholars. Any followers of my Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) KMbeing blog know that I believe we can all take this approach.

It’s not only about sharing the knowledge you have, but also about being open to asking more and more questions to get the knowledge you want – and gain the knowledge we all need to make the world a better place.

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Individual Knowledge For Humanity

2 Comments Posted by on March 30, 2012

One of the best parts of a person’s life is the ability to share knowledge with kindness and love for all humanity.

I am always a bit disappointed when I hear people say they do not have any knowledge to share – or have no ability to make humanity any better.  People may think they have no knowledge to share, but everyone is full of life experiences that have created individual knowledge that can be shared with the rest of us. If the intention of sharing that knowledge is to make the world a better place – including even in the life of one other person it is shared with – then it can be valuable knowledge.

I get disappointed because individuals devalue themselves when they devalue their own knowledge.  If I share my knowledge today as a way of sharing personal experience, someone else may remember it for the rest of their life – and it may move them on tomorrow to do completely new and different things to make the world a better place as they learn from my knowledge. They might even combine my knowledge with their own knowledge to do something valuable for someone else today.

One of the best parts of our lives is making connections with other people – those close to us or even on the other side of the planet. We can fill each day with such a diversity of knowledge sharing – and it takes very little effort when all is said and done.  I can share a piece of my knowledge with someone else or be open to learning from the knowledge of others. All it takes is really listening to another person and sharing what we know through our individual life experiences.

Sharing knowledge is not expensive – and it doesn’t have to be highly “intellectual”.  It just has to come from a place of wanting to make the world better for everyone. If each of us can take a moment each day to share knowledge to make the world a better place then we definitely will one person at a time – one piece of knowledge at a time – for all humanity.

 

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