Please take the time to read Steve Downes response (2/3 of the way down the post) to my The Experts vs The World post where he makes a few excellent points clarifying his initial remarks on the latest Economist debate.

The Democratic Experts

Downes makes an excellent distinction between becoming an expert and being appointed one. Expert bloggers uniquely achieve their standing without being annointed by one party or another. They achieve their standing by being read and by being quoted in other blogs.

In many respects, blogging is more democratic than any other institution that calls itself democratic. Sure, I have voted for Prime Ministers, but the all the candidates owe their positions to various powers both in and out of their respective parties. What I am really voting for is a collection of debts to various interests owed by each candidate.

Caesar’s King

Is blogger Ewan McIntosh really compromising his freedom by taking part in the Economist debates? I would say no.

It may be true, as Downes asserts, that “when you accept Caesar’s crown, you become Caesar’s king,” but, unlike writers for the Economist, Ewan McIntosh doesn’t owe his position to the Economist.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 21st, 2008 at 1:42 pm and is filed under Education, eLearning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.