It came to me last night, in a dream, or something like a dream, a
sudden flash of insight.
(Damn, that's been happening a lot lately!)
Still, sleep is a great time to do problem solving.
I mean consciousness takes up soooo much "bandwidth!" And, there's
only so much CPU to spare, when you're driving in traffic and
drinking a cup of Starbucks at the same time!
Suddenly, at 3AM, my eyes snapped open! Eureka! I've found it, said
I.
Suddenly, there was the urge to run up and down the street "bare ass"
as it where. But, maybe not.
So, I grabbed a book and started to read, which, at night, almost
always has an effect on me similar to what medical science
calls "narcolepsy."
Yet, for hours I could not get it out of my mind!
KNOWLEDGE HAS BECOME A COMMODITY!
All this drivel about the SMOKE STACK ECONOMY, and the KNOWLEDGE
ECONOMY is just wrong!
KNOWLEDGE HAS BECOME MORE OF A COMMODITY THAT OLD FASHION COMMODITIES
EVER WHERE!
OK, bear with me here......;
KNOWLEDGE IS INFINITELY REPRODUCABLE! After all, it is only
an "abstraction."
TO TRAIN COMPUTER SCIENTISTS ALL YOU NEED ARE BOOKS AND MAYBE A FEW
TEACHERS. THEN BAM! IN A FEW MONTHS, THE FLOOD GATES OPEN, AND
YOU'VE GOT COMPUTER SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS OUT THE WAZOO!
That's what happen in India and China, and even in Russia.
Now the reason we don't do that here in the US is because we've
decided to turn out cheerleaders and football players! Right? It's
a "culture thing."
OK CALL IT THE "DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE," AS I HAVE DONE ON OCCASION;
BUT, THE "COMMODITIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE" IS MORE DESCRIPTIVE OF WHAT'S
REALLY HAPPENING---FROM AN ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE.
OK, now, here's where it gets a bit wierd! You knew this was coming,
right?
OLD FASHION COMMODITIES ARE LOOSING THEIR "COMMODITIY-LIKE"
CHARACTRISTICS!
OLD FASHION COMMODITIES LIKE GOLD, LUMBER, WHEAT AND OIL ARE BECOMING
INCREASINGLY RARE. AND HARD TO FIND! WORSE YET THERE IS MORE
COMPETITION FOR THE STUFF WE ALREADY HAVE.
It's infinitely easier to produce 1000 computer scientists; than it
is to produce a 1000 barrels of oil nowadays. Right?
But, the one "commodity" that is NOT becoming RARE is PAPER MONEY!
THE CENTRAL BANKS ARE TURNING OUT PAPER MONEY EVEN FASTER THAN INDIA
CAN TURN OUT SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS!
And, that's really pretty scary! Agreed?
KNOWLEDGE AND PAPER MONEY ARE NOW THE ULTIMATE COMMODITIES!
Hmmmm....if you could "trade on" this idea; I bet there's some money
in it!
Any Algorithms out there?
