2026-03-09

This theme – the paradigm shift that I want to focus on, as no one else seems to be going so – has been roaming around my files for several months, not getting written because it is too intricate. This is a reminder note to myself, and also an invitation to any readers to prompt me to writing more about any of the below.

One good way in is to recognise one of the key features of contemporary life: information overload. There is too much information in so many ways, and it has even been weaponized to keep people from having a clear-headed view of what is going on in the world. But the implications are so great that I've finally decided that I can't write about them all in one piece.

Let me start by cross-linking to other themes of mine.

1. Belonging: there are too many opportunities for belonging — many groups believe that bigger is better, so they reach out for more members. It may be hard to decide.
2. Connecting useful knowledge: I wrote about the knowledge deluge on 2022-10-13.
3. My theme Knowledge Serving Commons is closely related: too much information without clear guidance and pathways is confusing and unhelpful.
4. My theme non-possessive collaboration is linked in many ways. It's a vital part of the new paradigm I want to see.

Then, a few months ago, I wrote down several topics that can also be related.

• The contrast between narcissism and love (including 1 Corinthians 13).
• Web (and wiki) page design: how to be most helpful.
• Left and right hemispheres of the brain: how the dominant left hemisphere gets overwhelmed or confused or misled without active collaboration of the right.
• More helpful social media: how we could improve on the likes of LinkedIn.
• The connection with personal relationships is touched on in my theme Relating in collectivity.
• The positive possibilities in intellectual life of connecting people with similar ontologies.
• The role of the “mycelial” connector.
• Fractal cooperation vs competition.

These are all covered in the main text.