The key philosophical shift emerging here is from a reliance on documents with pre-determined perspectives, orientations and world views to a reliance on raw, free data that can be re-connected according to one’s own curiosities, intuitions and creative insights.
By teaching computers how to meaningfully link data according to our personal choices, The Semantic Web has the potential to break down the entrenched walls of academic fiefdoms and institutionalized conformity.
If we take advantage of this emerging opportunity, the very nature of what we mean by “intelligence” will be enhanced in new, more open-minded and potentially enlightened ways.