WikiSilo.org - Free tools and content to support a unifying discipline within academia

Tools and content (open/free)

WikiSilo.org (or simply Wikisilo™) distributes free software tools and content that support a unifying discipline within academia. This involves a hierarchy of WikiSilos at ever increasing levels, each acting as a unifying base to their unifying forks.

Unifying methodology

The foundation for this tree of knowledge is the master level 0 WikiSilo whose content is supplied by Wikisilo. All first level WikiSilos can freely copy (or fork) their content from Wikisilo, and would refresh their content from time to time.. All second level WikiSilos must copy their content from the first level ones, and so one. While a WikiSilo and unifying base explicates a specific theory at some level of approximation and domain of applicability, each fork represents an exploration of theoretical options to improve the precision, elliminate problems, and increase the domain of applicability for their base. Research does not occur within a WikiSilo (neither base nor fork), but by spawning new ones.

WikiSilo authorities controlling progress

Every WikiSilo is controlled by an authority (a single scientist, a collaboration, or an organization) which determines which fork wins the right to be reabsorbed back into the base. The forks themselves, could belong to other authorities. Progress occurs whenever a base absorbs a fork. Scientific progress occurs whenever the master level 0 WikiSilo absorbs a fork. Currently, the master level 0 WikiSilo is empty, except for this minimal methodology. It's authority is Wikisilo, and the unifying content belong to all of academia that has contributed to any WikiSilo at any level.

Methodologies are epistemologies

While theories about the world (such as those from physics) belong to ontology, methodologies about scientific progress belong to a category called epistemology. So currently, the master level 0 WikiSilo is devoid of ontology, and only contains the minimal theoretical epistemology that is the WikiSilo way. It does require a commitment to unification - a priority to synthesize information rather than continusouly explore new phenomena. In other words, the primary purpose of any unifying fork is to unify their base, not to endlessly create additional forks. Otherwise, this creates noise over signal and prevents progress.

A more theoretically constrained epistemology can be found with our partner Wikimergic.org.

Wikimergic partnership

The software for Wikisilo.org is being developed in partnership with Wikimergic.org. Wikimergic has two WikiSilo levels. Level 1 is an epistemology with a significant theoretical foundation above and beyond the minimalism of WikiSilo. Level 2 within Wikimergic is an ontology for a unified cognitive model. According to Wikimergic (but not WikiSilo) epistemizing and ontologizing are a coupled dynamic system and cannot be perfectly separated (or demarcated).

Wikimergic is also developing the master level 0 WikiSilo content which will be handed over to Wikisilo when it is suitably complete.

More Information

For more information, see Wikimergic.org