Learning to unlearn a lot of what you know

By ADAM GIFFORD

Swimming in the knowledge wave means learning to unlearn a lot of what you know, said a chief scientist of Xerox and former director of its legendary Palo Alto Research Centre.

John Seely Brown warned the Catching the Knowledge Wave conference to avoid the four "deadly sins" holding back innovation.

The first sin is denial, such as was practiced by those who argue the dot bomb crash showed there is nothing to the "e-age".

"There is nothing more deadly than that belief, because though the dot bombs were brain dead, we are finding ways now to drive improvisation into every enterprise you can imagine and rapidly improve productivity," Dr Brown said.

The next sin is complacency, followed by arrogance.

Dr Brown said when Linux and the Open Source movement first appeared, he was one of those who ridiculed it, saying there was no way thousands of kids around the world could write a proper operating system.

"I was convinced it was impossible, without master architects, to build something as complicated as the Linux operating system."

Today the Linux operating system probably outperforms every operating system in the world.

"They have found a way to tap the community mind around the world to build this wonderful system."

The fourth sin is nostalgia.

"One of the biggest problems in the American eduication system is parents want their kids taught like they were - back to basics."

Dr Brown said if there are structural changes in the workplace, many things learned by experience must be unlearned.

His own research methodology often involves bringing 15-year olds into research teams, to get the benefit of their different way of seeing the world.

Increasingly universities students have "grown up digital".

"The notion of literacy is beginning to shift from text to text plus pictures."

He said such people are able to navgate "huge complex messy information spaces."

In the process, critical thought is becoming more important. The ability of people to learn by linking into virtual communities is challenging the philosphical notions of Descartes which underpin existing learning systems.

"We have to shift from 'I think, therefore I am' to 'We participate, therefore we are.'

"The power of the social network is a tremendous resource."

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