Op-Ed: Learning Process
Builds Real Knowledge
From Basic Information

WHY “Informed Opinion” Is Essential in Democracy, Part One of Two

courtesy: governancefocus.blogspot.com

(EUGENE, Ore.) - Everyone has “MY opinion” always ready, right in top-of-head, built from feelings and life experience. But few are "more-than-feeling”: Meaningful opinions are shaped by full information, followed by always-necessary cogitation, to produce knowledge essential for understanding and wise decisions.

That’s unavoidable, inevitable, a necessity for any possible role as responsible citizen, demanded to shape and control our American democracy.

Our Founding Fathers learned early-on that any rational approach to governance demanded more than that “normal” top-of-head human response. Yet, it is now so prevalent it is routinely accepted “as if true opinion” --albeit also universally recognized as woefully damaging due to its obvious imperfections.

The Founders taught themselves the absolutely essential ingredients of democracy by their own now world-famed dialog reflected in “The Federalist Papers.” They learned from famous philosophers, mutually considering multiple sources for every possible nuance of governance process --further refined by that famous dialog we have inherited.

THAT’s the genesis --and the genius-- of our famed First Amendment: It was designed to provide, protect, guide and fully emphasize the process of changing essential information into “the sure and certain knowledge required for all democratic government”. That’s WHY there was --and still is, for our current guidance-- the famed collection of essential exploration and deep thinking they originated in The Federalist Papers.

It is important here to note that those famous “papers” first appeared in then-operating daily or weekly newspapers, making their essential underpinnings for our democracy delightfully open to ready access by ordinary people: “Important” since the entire founding process was built on the concept of the ordinary person --as a responsible citizen-- knowledgeable enough to shape and then control our unique democratic governance.

The Founders were among the very first to recognize that responsible citizens must be well-informed to be accountable for shaping, then controlling the governance-plan. That was natural defense against those who would, in well-known human terms, distort and pervert for their own malign selfish purposes.

Today we know much more about the learning process involved in converting information into essential working-model knowledge, guiding decision on every important issue, problem, event, or next-step. Cognitive science, devoted to deep exploration of “how the mind works”, provides us with what we need to understand the process --and thus make it work more effectively.

That strengthens, extends and supports what we already had learned about learning from educational research. We are now endowed with simple, fast, easy access to the most powerful instrument for learning ever conceived and created: The computer and its worldwide link to every conceivable resource and source, the Internet.

“Digital delivery” of messages, instructions, operating commands --and learning media-- is only now being fully recognized for the comprehensive, orderly, controlled and superb learning impact it can --and is already-- delivering not only nationwide, but worldwide.

For our purposes here, let’s define both elements-of- learning-process we are discussing: information (as in "cognition") n.: knowledge acquired through study or experience or instruction. (Obviously, now, often via computer and Internet.); knowledge (as in "cognition") n.: the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning. That’s what should result from “digital delivery” so easily accessed by millions for very diverse purposes -- including greatly-strengthened persuasive impacts.

Like all other techniques for mass communication, digital delivery --now the bane and perhaps the death for printed daily newspages-- this one demands ethical, knowledgeable, responsible, accountable usage.

Without that civilized control --self/achieved in nearly all situations-- it becomes the most potent and possibly-malign instrument for sabotage of societal control by persuasive-affective propaganda-shaped communications product.

History provides exmples beginning with early-days huge,complex pioneer computer installations in War II. Astute observers of the world-scene watch NOW as ongoing “accomplishments” by many nations are clearly evident in video/audio propaganda worldwide.

Today’s Internet provides multiple opportunities for continuous dialog, in multiple channels open to an eager public now remorselessly driven to pay much more focused attention to public affairs.

Horrendous consequences of long-continued lack of close democratic control for our essential governance now demand remediation --with our transformative election-choice of Nov. 4 the beginnings of the beginning. We can simplify for easier examination learning process conversion of information into knowledge to guide policy and decision --as now clearly demanded. (“See also” any text on educational methods of Piaget, Skinner, Chomsky, current cognitive research.)

That’s what must happen to convert that massive flow of current-day information into knowledge, as demanded for practical usage. Without that process, what’s heard, seen, and read as “information” remains --for far too many-- muddled, unclear, uncertain --un/useful.

They suffer from “the modern massive symptom of disempowerment for the individual, felt by millions worldwide, driving political discourse everywhere” -- and highly apparent in every open-channel operating on the Internet now.

Only when we apply cogitation and examine other parts of the inevitable “big picture” --always there these day-- does information become knowledge to guide policy-decision. For decades --some say even for the first American century-- an essential role was played by our original mainstream printed press, formed and protected by the genius of the First Amendment.

The quid pro quo for that protection of the “free press” is their responsible professional role to inform the public -- a special kind of learning situation unique then to America, noted for its immense massive impacts on every level of our government for many decades. That is one major mechanism now sadly distorted (sometimes perverted) by consolidation, concentration of ownership, and unavoidable consequences of “corporate campaign contributions”.

That’s the WHY of massive, multiple growth of Internet dialog channels. It is also the massive major motivation for making sure those channels retain the honest, open, democratic dialog shape, stature and standing demanded to transfer that extremely important role from traditional press sources for public opinion formation to those now made possible by new communications technologies.

You are reading about realities on one right now. Is it not worth making sure to preserve, extend and strengthen true and open dialog via good faith content intended for sharing/learning for all?

As for democracy, it is undoubtedly true -- proven historically through the ages, around the world, and wherever democracy has rooted itself into life-- that “You Use It Or You Lose It”.

The choice --and the continuing actions-- are yours to make --and to DO.

(Second-part will review learning process as shaped and applied via Internet dialog channels.)

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Henry Clay Ruark is the one of, if not the most experienced, working reporter in the state of Oregon, and possibly the entire Northwest. Hank has been at it since the 1930's, working as a newspaper staff writer, reporter and photographer for organizations on the east coast like the Bangor Maine Daily News.
Today he writes Op-Ed's for Salem-News.com with words that deliver his message with much consideration for the youngest, underprivileged and otherwise unrepresented people.