So the other day I was showing my new consulting client the graphic that I’d put together to describe how the knowledge economy actually shares some similarities with agrarian economies, in the sense that knowledge ‘grown’ on the Internet has a very predictable and organic lifecycle.  With the assistance of the little blue guy in SelfReliant’s new logo, I put together a digital version of this lifecycle that I’d like to discuss here.  But first the graphic:

Tapping into online feedback to learn organically off your ideas

The way this graphic is arranged, I’m trying to fit the definition of a microenterprise in, and if you’re familiar with my website at www.SelfReliantLLC.com then you know there’s aready a link to this graphic on my Microenterprise Institute page.  Basically, my argument is that everything you might want to learn can be self-taught to you by engaging in a process not unlike farming.

Here’s a recap of that 4-step process:

1) Start out with an idea or question as your “Seed”.  This could be anything:  How did they build the Hadron Super Collider?  What would happen if I made cyberpunk art out of pasta?  What’s the meaning of life?  Why are cellular automata important?  How could we measure gravity waves?

2) “Plant” the Idea Online.  This is the essence of every good microenterprise.  The moment you utilize the broader Internet to plant your ideas into the public consciousness, interesting things will grow.  You don’t have to write a term paper to do this – the inversion is essentially this:  instead of attention coming before quality, the Internet rewards quality by giving it attention.  And hopefully, at some point, official accreditation as well.  So write a blog, do research for a high quality Wikipedia article, build an Internet business that sells your unique art, and start doing all your “homework” outside of class, in public, and online.

3) “Harvest” the Fruits of those Ideas.  When your ideas are public, they can be evaluated.  There are of course credible evaluators and non-credible evaluators.  A Harvard-trained psychology researcher is a credible evaluator of your blog post on neuroscience.  A 6-year old would be a non-credible evaluator.  So aggregate the feedback you get from credible sources and develop new ideas or questions to explore from that feedback.  Other benefits include experience with the particular technological medium or platform you used, and of course money.

Some online ‘gurus’ will emphasize how Internet marketing can make you thousands of dollars.  There is no doubt it can, and generating your own income from any source is empowering – and will make you more self-reliant, and able to fund your ideas and your self-education.  Bottom line:  We’re all for you making money online!  But don’t lose sight of the fact that making money online should always be a byproduct of your intellectual journey, not a focus of it.  This is where SelfReliant’s core values come into play – financial independence is one of our core values, but profit in the absence of the other values, such as intellectualism and caring, would be a shallow success in our view.

So once you come full circle, you’ll of course have to sift the good ideas from the bad, and once again farm out some new knowledge from the Internet.  Self-education is the only kind of education that allows for informal learning to matter toward your resume, credibility, and reputation.  Get farming!