Tim Berners Lee was, some time ago, working on the idea of web 2 which would be in accord with your idea, since every web page metadata would include the possibility of being coordinated across websites, categorised, authored, timed. As I understood it there would be cross referencing and precision to searches and, unless I am very mistaken, would be in agreement with you that such things would be possible given time and money and knowledge. Tim berners lee could not write his ideas in one simple reply to a thread so all I can do is tell you to visit his website and read on what he is working on, as he is very interested in ideas such as yours. I am absolutely certain that he, or his team, would be very open to your ideas and may even suggest possibilities you had not thought of
bubblesort
Sorry, I’m not a professional philosopher but did study it at university and still retain an interest in it. I was interested to read this statement. “Many philosophers have been infected (often by later Wittgenstein) with the idea that philosophy is supposed to be useless.”.
I take that to mean you consider Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus to be his better work. I do too and have been mocked for saying so when I was a student. I was taught by some very famous professors at a well placed university but I wasn’t much of a student, not the brightest crayon in that years box.
I agree, the professional philosophers look back at some fairly ancient text, but there is a reason for that. If you are building a car that is aiming to be better than everything else on the road you dont start blindly, you look at other cars and check their faults and build something that does not have the same faults. The aim of philosophy is not a combative sport. Its true aim is to build upon knowledge, but what knowledge is also becomes a philosophical debate. I prefer meta-philosophy and scientific method, I prefer igtheism to atheism and prefer Hume to Descartes. The old dead guys determine, in part how I think of the alive new guys. The old guys gave me a set of tools to dissect the work of the new guys.
Opportunity is the key. Put it into context, what is the difference between, a rockstar who goes all round the world making music and spreading ideas through their words, and someone who buys their records, thinks about the music, tries their level best to play music and write songs that are of equal importance to the rockstars music, and yet their ideas arent able to get off the ground? It isnt for lack of trying. Someone once told me that undiscovered genius does not exist and never has. He was a very eminent professor of philosophy, yet I didnt believe him. Maybe you think the world is a meritocracy of ideas? I do not think it is. In a world where those with the good ideas get the most rewards there is a lot of competition. Maybe some kid with a guitar tries to be famous but never meets the right contacts, never plays at the right venues, lacks a certain amount of support from those around him, yet his ideas are astounding and equal to those of any rockstar, and gives up after trying but getting nowhere.
If you mean something like this place then there is also discipline. I would not dare submit an idea here yet. Others seem so much more skilled at formulating ideas and yet I enjoy reading their ideas and hate writing my own down, I believe I am probably not as well educated as most people here and my ideas may not be as intellectually stimulating as those I read. It may be a false belief but it is, anyway a belief that stops me creating ideas that spread and instead enjoy those who are good at it
Another thought I have is that those who are good at thinking are usually only the best in one particular area. Correct me if I am wrong but Wittgenstein is not usually noted for his ability to think about structural engineering. David Bowie was not noteworthy because of his ability to think about thermodynamics. People are reluctant to speak on subjects upon which they are not experts. As Wittgenstein once said “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent”
It seems to me you are talking about levels of entropy. High entropy systems still rely upon the low entropy of universal laws. A computer program routines may be itertwined, wrapped around each other, undocumented, may be a nightmare to understand, but if it works, why fix it? It conforms to the requirements to compile it into a useable executable file. A star that is exploding is like a spaghetti structure. It falls into a state of high entropy but only in as much as universal laws dictate how it will do that. Correct me if I am wrong but are you talking about levels of entropy?
Edited in later:
The kind of entropy I am talking about is a physical state. Imagine you make a building of bricks with a nice kitchen, dining room, etc etc. The building is left to stand for a 1000 years. At first it has low entropy. It is a very definite structure. Over time, roof tiles fall off, the rain gets in, wood rots, bricks crumble. By 500 years it has lost most of its original defining characteristics, it is falling into a state of high entropy. It is becoming a mound of rubble. Pour sand out of a 1000 buckets. At first the sand is shaped by the shape of the bucket, but then when it leaves the bucket that structure is lost. Pouring more sand on the floor, on top of the other sand does nothing to lower the state of entropy. Systems fall into decay. Unravelling the decay, creating some semblance of order brings about a different structure a different level of entropy
What an inspiring thought. I love ideas like yours, mainly because I was taught philosophy at UCL in London UK. At the time Arnold Zuboff was a lecturer there and his ideas were as interesting as yours. I was there some time around 1992 or 3, I last spoke to him around 2004 maybe 2006. UCL may be able to put you in touch with him, as they did that for me. He is very good at discussing ideas such as yours in emails and on sites such as this. Let me assure you, Zuboff is a genius. Here is a paper he wrote regarding time and self identity https://philpapers.org/rec/ZUBMUA
I am fairly certain, and I hope I’m not wrong or embarrassing myself or him in some way but seriously, get his advice