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Robert Laughlin on Information

By Johnny Fuery ⋅ November 14, 2008 ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

This Moira Gunn interview with Nobel Laureate Robert Laughlin was forwarded to me by a friend:

http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail3905.html#

One of the main points made my Laughlin in this interview is that “anything that allows you to make money is not [shared or published]“. (As add’l context for those that didn’t listen to it, this is contrasted by “any information that allows [the owner of the information] to make money is published”.)

I would argue that, while there are undoubtedly industries where this is true, the state of the world is actually quite a bit different from the stark one painted by this idea.

Anything where craft matters renders this irrelevant. Harry Houdini published several books outlining in detail exactly how to perform his magic tricks. When asked, he said “Well. No one can do it like I can, now can they?”

I work every day on technology that is “open source”. The source code is published, very little is hidden behind the curtain. The work I do requires a certain level of craft, creativity, and innovation that is more the sum of manuals and source code.

There are flaws in the internet and it’s model, to be sure. The corporatization and monetization of it was inevitable and has some pretty serious side effects. Nevertheless, collaborative works like Wikipedia and the blogosphere community represent diametric opposites to Laughlin’s world view.

It’s an interesting idea, and the notion that we should question the source on everything is a sound one, but it’s neither new nor particularly poignant.

Remember, the dude didn’t win the nobel prize for philosophy. He won it for physics. I think that, if we question the source here, we’re simply seeing a man who is frustrated by his own inability to spread the knowledge in his head freely. (In the first few minutes of the interview, he brings up nuclear technology and how entire sections of knowledge in that field have been wiped from textbooks for security reasons.)

Furthermore, if my presumption is anywhere near the truth, this human desire actually backs up my argument further and serves to disagree with his. People want to share knowledge just because; it’s innate. So the act of hiding bits and pieces, as he asserts, is an unnatural act.

What do you think? Is there a damaging pack-rat mentality around information, or is Mr. Laughlin just blowing smoke?

Tags: food for thought, Information Age, Robert Laughlin