Collaboration: The 17th Century and Now

Get this, readers. Somehow, all three of my English classes are taking my mind on the same ride through the issues of individual authorship and collaborative production. Can I tell you about it?

 

In my British literature (1603-1660) class we are learning all about how the KJV of the Bible was translated. The author of the book we are reading discusses the unique nature of its production in comparison to placing the highest value on individual genius. He writes this facetiously: "Joint committees know nothing of genius. They do not produce works of art. It is surely lonely martyrs who struggle for unacknowledged truths...Isn't the beautiful, we now think, to be identified with what is original, the previously unsaid, the unique vision of the individual mind? How can a joint enterprise of this sort produce anything valuable?" (Nicolson, God's Secretaries, p.69).

 

Well, let me tell you: joint enterprises CAN produce something valuable, and we are seeing processes like that right before our eyes in our digital culture. Just as the six subcommittees of the KJV translation committee couldn't produce such a volume individually (think of the languages that individual would need to know! think of the education, and the relatively unbiased religiosity necessary), the wealth of knowledge to be found on the Internet exceeds the amount a solitary expert could ever tell you. Here's my review for the non-fiction book I perused for our digital culture class:

 

(link here)

 

So what's my take away from all of this? Why does it matter that networking is so good and going at it (research) alone can be so limiting?

 

I've expressed fears that I won't keep learning at the same rate once I've graduated from college. I think at the root of my worries is that I'm picturing a "me" so very alone in the learning process - without direction, without filters, without purpose. But the great news is that there is a whole WORLDWIDE NETWORK available at my fingertips for collaboration! I don't need to be an expert about everything because that would be impossible. Instead, I can learn about whatever I'd like to, whenever I'd like to, and I can become an "expert" on the topics I choose.  

 

I think the KJV Translators would be pleased that their collaborative approach to knowledge is more alive than ever today. The concept of ever-revising publications might cause them to raise their eyebrows, but hey- welcome to the 21st century.