“…archived in the province of Media…”#edcmooc / #edcmoocw3 – Sunset Observer #22 …by Whitney Farmer – Un Pop Culture | @MDWorld

November 21, 2013 Whitney Farmer 3 Comments

That’s what he said.

He being Ezra – whose Twitter profile would describe as ‘Royal Scribe from Babylon’ – when he wrote about Cyrus’ decree that silenced the critics and authorized the rebuilding of the wall in Jerusalem.

The new ruler Darius had received a letter from Tattenai – the governor of the occupying forces who had been part of a plan to delay work for 14 years in the region – questioning whether permission had been granted. This caused Darius to commission a search of the library of the treasure city of Ecbatana to see if the ruler who had preceded him had issued a royal decree. Ecbatana was the capital of Media.

Cyrus had decreed it, and Darius found it. And it was the type of document that carried both full provision for the project as well as severe consequences for anyone who attempted to interfere with the work.

When I as wee lass first read this passage years ago, I was struck by the power of Media. In this place, the thoughts and intentions of a king long dead could change the current landscape. Confusion departed and provision arrived. In this space, the past and present collide and become the future.

For us who live in this millennium, the province of Media has become a virtual reality but no less powerful. It is a place where visions are written down so that the heralds can run with them. It’s where we can make a living and a space where we might even find love.

What has changed except the appearance? An archive is library is a hardrive is cloud file sharing. The individual ‘we’ that comes from the words that we use to express our histories and visions is aggregated into the face of a land and a civilization and a species. Even ‘broadcasting’ is an ancient technology. This is an agricultural method used since humanity decided that a land was green and that we were tired of foraging. Farmers would cast the seed broadly – broadcasting – in order to create the potential for a great harvest without the tender seedlings having to compete for light and nutrition from being too near together in the soil.

Broadcasting through the Media in a MOOC or other virtual venue creates massive change, but this change is the result of the individual scaled efforts of the seed that lands well. Like an impressionistic painting, from a distance a form is evident. Within a hands-breadth view, the surprising colors and efforts that have made up the whole become visible and the global effect is invisible. Individual efforts are distinct and valuable both because of how they contribute to the whole as well as the manifestation of the single vision.

My words are archived. Our words are archived. It is worth a sober contemplation. Our shared temptation to fall off the Grid raises up against us when we accidently hit ‘reply all’ or dumb-text or commit a cultural offense via typo. But the greater risk is not participating actively in the archive. ‘Never forget” is an anthem that requires accurate accounting to combat the hearsay of our individual Tattenai(s) that allowed building to be stopped for 14 years.

So my library includes Star Trek and the Bible, remedial manuals and bilingual poetry, math and love. You want to use that against me?

I hereby issue a royal decree: Rather than harm, my words will bless.

P.S. I’m now on Twitter. farmer_whitney. And Flickr. Finally. Yes, you were right.

NEXT TIME: Raising All Boats…

Pic of part of my library, my #edcmoocw3 project submission for #edcmooc, from my cell phone.