Brains working towards machine consciousness

I have just blogged over at RedGloo about identity, trust and reputation and how they affect connectivism (to some extent). I want to explore that some more in a series of posts, but for various reasons, I don't want to post too much on RedGloo.

Why? because the site is aimed primarily at sparking discussions and encouraging students in the Computer Science and Informatics study area to interact and meet people they might otherwise not bump into on campus. I am aware that having a lot of either a) waffle or b) in-depth discussion can put people off, so I want to avoid writing too much there (as I waffle about in-depth discussion!).

I also want to start building up my own ePortfolio. I am not a fan of limiting myself to posting all in one place, but if I want to show a coherent view of what I do it makes sense to have at least a focal point for it. This is meant to be that place.

ePortfolios are probably about the easiest way of building up your 'professional' identity online. Using a blog to record things is a starting point, but it is still easy to produce something which does not provide a 'coherent whole'. I tend to write about things as they occur to me, and that can mean that one day I will post about connectivism, one day about consciousness, another about politics, or the economy, or digital identity (DI) or ... well, you get the picture.

A nice thing about the blog is that it is a personal space. Whilst it is visible to anyone who cares to come and see (although this is not necessarily the case - on RedGloo, an ELGG variant, you can maintain fine-grained control over who can see your posts), you can maintain your own style. I like writing fairly conversationally - indeed, I am starting to find writing in the kind of formal style necessary for academic papers to be stifling. Communication is about connecting with your audience. I want people to read what I write, have an occasional chuckle, and hopefully learn something, or feel obliged to argue a point. I like to try to get other people to think just a little bit more - and for them to return the favour!

Also, a conversational style reveals more about who I am than trying to hide it behind the traditional third person, passive voice. We all have our own experiences which, however hard we try, influence the way we see things, the way we interpret and re-present information. Hiding behind the veneer of impartiality provided by academic language is a barrier to allowing full understanding of the individual who is writing - and without that context, the reader can never hope to get a full view of the context of the information being presented. I find it rather ironic that scientists are being encouraged to communicate their subject matter to others, but at the same time they are expected to use language which will put the average reader off in no time flat.

Anyway - over the next couple of months, I will be studying a course on Connectivism - and this site is also going to be where I reflect on what I have learned. It is going to be a busy, hectic few months between now and Christmas, but I hope to come out the other end with a better appreciation of a wide range of views about learning, and a wider network of people who I can connect with. I might also try not to end sentences with prepositions...