The Arrival of Composable Knowledge

Traversing through human history, even in the last two decades, we see a rapid increase in the accessibility of knowledge. The purpose of language, and of course all communication is to transfer a concept from one system to another. For humans this ability to transfer concepts has been driven by advancements in technology, communication, and social structures and norms.

This evolution has made knowledge increasingly composable, where individual pieces of information can be combined and recombined to create new understanding and innovation. Ten years ago I would have said being able to read a research paper and having the knowledge to repeat that experiment in my lab was strong evidence of this composability (reproducibility issues not withstanding).

Now, composability itself is getting an upgrade.

In the next essay I’ll be exploring the implications of the arrival of composable knowledge. This post is a light stroll to remind ourselves of how we got here.

Songs, Stories, and Scrolls

In ancient times, knowledge was primarily transmitted orally. Stories, traditions, and teachings were passed down through generations by word of mouth. This method, while rich in cultural context, was limited in scope and permanence. The invention of writing systems around 3400 BCE in Mesopotamia marked a significant leap. Written records allowed for the preservation and dissemination of knowledge across time and space, enabling more complex compositions of ideas (Renn, 2018).

Shelves, Sheaves, and Smart Friends

The establishment of libraries, such as the Library of Alexandria in the 3rd century BCE, and scholarly communities in ancient Greece and Rome, further advanced the composability of knowledge. These institutions gathered diverse texts and fostered intellectual exchanges, allowing scholars to build upon existing works and integrate multiple sources of information into cohesive theories and philosophies (Elliott & Jacobson, 2002).

Scribes, Senpai, and Scholarship

During the Middle Ages, knowledge preservation and composition were largely the domain of monastic scribes who meticulously copied and studied manuscripts. The development of universities in the 12th century, such as those in Bologna and Paris, created centers for higher learning where scholars could debate and synthesize knowledge from various disciplines. This was probably when humans shifted perspective and started to view themselves as apart from nature  (Grumbach & van der Leeuw, 2021).

Systems, Scripts and the Scientific Method

The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century revolutionized knowledge dissemination. Printed books became widely available, drastically reducing the cost and time required to share information. This democratization of knowledge fueled the Renaissance, a period marked by the synthesis of classical and contemporary ideas, and the Enlightenment, which emphasized empirical research and the scientific method as means to build, refine, share knowledge systematically (Ganguly, 2013).

Silicon, Servers, and Sharing

The 20th and 21st centuries have seen an exponential increase in the composability of knowledge due to digital technologies. The internet, open access journals, and digital libraries have made vast amounts of information accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Tools like online databases, search engines, and collaborative platforms enable individuals and organizations to gather, analyze, and integrate knowledge from a multitude of sources rapidly and efficiently. There have even been studies which allow, weirdly, future knowledge prediction (Liu et al., 2019).

Conclusion

From oral traditions to digital repositories, the composability of knowledge has continually evolved, breaking down barriers to information and enabling more sophisticated and collaborative forms of understanding. Today, the ease with which we can access, combine, and build upon knowledge drives innovation and fosters a more informed and connected global society.