The second hypothesis I am investigating with this weblog is that the availability of existing human knowledge is expanding exponentially. If true, I think it would reduce the burden of expectations on those who think new human knowledge is doubling every five years, if that turns out not to be the case. If a brilliant Chinese programmer can see the appropriate article online today, where he couldn't in the past, it might guide his efforts more effectively--pretty common-sensical, I think.
So, this article from the Dalhousie News is interesting. In it, we see that the Nova Scotian university now has access to 15,000 academic journals--up from 4,000 five years ago. Essentially, these common-sense Canadians formed a buyer's club and got good deals on academic journals online. Good for them.
I'm starting to like Hypothesis Number Two. Every time I search for evidence regarding the increased availability of human knowledge, I feel like I'm swimming with the river, easily finding data that seems reliable and pertinent. Every time I look for evidence about the primary hypothesis (that actual human knowledge is doubling every five years), I really feel like I'm swimming against the current.
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