The Surface of Knowledge
We state that the scenarios of infinite postponement of knowledge in the setting of educational institutions are fraudulent. If knowledge is to be accessed, it has to be produced. There is no knowledge to be gained from the tertiary consumption of experiences. What the system offers us as the range of depth to delve into is only a tactic of deference that does not offer any respite from the compulsion to seek.
The insistence of the system to propel us into a perpetual state of becoming is problem.
The Surfatial University fulfils the persistent craving for knowledge that abounds. We do away with the self-serving model of plunging learners into never-ending self-doubt, chasing and the persistence of illusory depth. We offer the flat surface of knowledge as an entity which offers no sequentiality, that becomes an end in itself. The flatness of the surfaces that we offer have no deformities of terrain and no possibilities for the emergence of shadows. The avoidance of shadows allows a genuine chance for shadows to be considered. The university gathers around itself, a community that doesn't squint in the pursuit of some imagined pot of gold but rather one that allows itself to surrender to the moment at hand.
The emergence of knowledge has no role envisaged for the learner. There is nothing to do. There is nothing to be pursued. If the reluctance to be locked into a cycle of productivity is anything to be named, we would name it the main factor.
We value compression over expansion because density demands itself. When we start seeding a message, we feel the pull of invisible attractors. Compressed messages have greater surface tension, consume less attention and require more internal speculation. Messages can a be bit off but have to be chewed on and digestion has to be attempted slowly and hesitantly. When we look around, compression is at a minimal level. The vestiges of messages are either offered at their face value or they are so…
But what does the surface hide? What does the surface enclose? What is the nature of content? Content has a halo around it. Supposedly the message holds all the keys. But the truth is that there is no message. We know we tried to access it and found nothing. That there is no message is a public secret. Because so many institutions have been invested deeply in curation, archiving and exhibition of the said content, everyone wants to play this game of make-believe. This game of make-believe has…
The surface has been rejected too soon. Seizing the opportunity, the operators and traders of the world have rendered the surface as a mediated object of the lowest order. It is constructed by elements of design, magnetic logic and the noise of publicity and external perspectives. Surfaces are left exposed and wars are fought on the basis of the internal contents of entities. Because thought has ceded the surface to the manipulator, nothing can be dealt with at its face value. The face value…
