تغييرات

==Context==  

==Context==  

Perhaps "theorizing" is the word with the worst reputation, among youth who seek social change. As it is associated with the image of an isolated intellectual in his ivory tower, bent on reading and contemplating, shaved in the sky of thought away from reality, speaking with an arrogant rhetoric that no one understand. The definitive evidence of the corruption of "theorizing" is that it is abstract. Which means to them, lack of realism and reason, and that it is beyond life and people. Thus is condemned as a waste of effort and time.

This is a very difficult task in general. As the dominant ideas always belong to those who shape education, media, religion, culture and other determinants of consciousness. Interest of those is to dedicate the status quo with its defect.

In fact, everyone is a philosopher, in his own way, even if he does not realize it. Everyone, regardless of affiliation or activity, has a collection of generalizations, and initial assumptions about the world, himself, his position and his relationship with others. Every one of us adopts a theory even if he refuses to recognize. There is no exception between loyalist and opponent; reactionary, conservative and progressive; who discriminate women, racist, sectarian or homophobic; or nationalist, liberal, Islamic, leftist, and even the state security officer who monitor them all.

If the prevalent ideas are , in general, insufficient, to understand the forces that shape our lives and the possibilities to confront them, the situation in Egypt is catastrophic, as the forces of knowledge production, whether individuals or institutions, are systematically deviating from anything that helps to develop interpretations, analyses, critiques and develop new visions. There is a disjointed and transient certified code of ideas, whoever adopts it, is rewarded with acceptance, belonging and appreciation. While anyone who tries to even question it, suffers from exclusion, rejection, contempt and accountability, let alone someone who tries to criticize it.

Often, each of us develops his "theory" cumulatively, through a mix of different and contradictory concepts. Initially, as a result of simply being in a society with certain biases, and receiving specific culture. At a later stage, through experience, theoretical knowledge and interaction with individuals and groups with different experiences.  Ultimately, creating his own perception of the world

Despite the billions spent on public and private education each year, the quality of schooling in Egypt falls to the point where Egyptians consistently point out that they "have no education." The only exception is international education, which is obtained only by the margin of margin. Curriculum development in Egypt is often about what the government decides and just enough to pass exams, which tend to reward students for memorizing skills and not for their creativity or their ability to understand and make arguments. In Egypt, students enrol in school at the age of four and leave it at the age of eighteen, without being exposed to the long mankind's history of struggle for justice, freedom and equality. There is nothing, of course, about the evolution of progressive liberating ideas or the concepts of collective or personal rights.

The battle for justice, freedom and equality is at its core a battle between different concepts of the world. The battle to get rid of ideas that promote exploitation, tyranny and discrimination and replace them with progressive liberating ideas and theories that call for justice, freedom and equality.

History is merely a preaching account serving the regime ideology, in the name of developing national sense and belonging to the homeland, or to religion. It is an artificial imaginative process glorifying figures, loaded with a lot of dates; students are burdened by memorizing them, without acquiring the ability to link them, understand the logic behind their flow, or even understand how these events have changed people's lives positively or negatively. All what Egyptian student gets as history throughout his pre-university education is the Pharaonic, Islamic and contemporary history of Egypt, which is repeated every three years in the same order with some expansion. Nothing about the history of the world outside Egypt, as if Egypt is an isolated island or exists on an independent planet, or as if people history is not an interaction between different cultures and civilizations. Nothing can convey the feeling that we are part of the collective heritage of humanity. Of course, within the context of this official narrative, there is no place for the eight centuries of Coptic Egypt, which occurred between the end of Pharaonic civilization and the Islamic conquest of Egypt.

Activists, who say that they do not need theory and only follow their instinct, that is to say, trying to change the world without making enough effort to understand it as it really is, with its deformity and change possibilities; or understand their role and position in this process; are actually fighting windmills blindfolded. Their "common sense" may include elements needed to lay the groundwork for a new world, but those elements need to be extracted, purified, developed, and isolated from a pile of contradictory and conflicting ideas, that also contribute to the formation of "common sense".

If the student chooses the "scientific" track, it means that he will not be exposed to the whole field of humanities, not a single word about philosophy, psychology, sociology or economics. While the student who chooses the "literary" studies, will receive fragments of these sciences, dealing with their theories as rigid templates imported from the West, having nothing to do with our reality. On the other hand, the study of "scientific" track will only address vaguely theories about universe emergence, evolution and other theories that contradict the adopted narrative.

This is a very difficult task in general. As the dominant ideas always belong to those who shape education, media, religion, culture and other determinants of consciousness. Interest of those is to dedicate the status quo.

Media is no less miserable. Egyptian media have always been monitored and censored. But what happened since the 2013 coup and Rabaa massacre was quite different. Apart from dominating state radio, television and newspapers, the new regime tightened his grip on every private satellite channel, radio station and newspaper, allowing only pure propaganda. Internet became no longer a place where alternative narratives can be found; as hundreds of websites, including satellite channels, newspapers, publishing platforms and political group sites, have been banned.

Political repression is not the main scourge of the Arabic Internet. Despite repression and the transformation of social networking platforms to fishers for dissidents and platforms to broadcast official propaganda through an organized network of loyalists, the Internet remains the only participatory media tool available and the cheapest way to get information and to be exposed to ideas. Here, in fact, the problem lies. The Arabic content on the Internet is a lamentable reality that suffers from extreme poverty and weakness. If the attempt to obtain serious or scientific information is very difficult in the midst of piles of superstition, friction, superficiality and frenzied sectarian conflicts, the opportunity to be exposed to ideas that contradict what is taken for granted, or help to understand and change the world is almost impossible. If one is lucky, and stumbles on an idea of this kind, most likely it will be a translation of a classical writing, an article written in a very complex fossil language, or an intervention or intrigue that will soon fade into the social networking swallow.

 

 

 

 

 

Political repression is not the main scourge of Arabic Internet. Despite repression and the transformation of social networking platforms to fishers for dissidents and platforms to broadcast official propaganda through an organized network of loyalists, the Internet remains the only participatory media tool available and the cheapest way to get information and to be exposed to ideas. Here, in fact, the problem lies. The Arabic content on the Internet is a lamentable reality that suffers from extreme poverty and weakness. If the attempt to obtain serious or scientific information is very difficult in the midst of piles of superstition, friction, superficiality and frenzied sectarian conflicts, the opportunity to be exposed to ideas that contradict what is taken for granted, or help to understand and change the world is almost impossible. If one is lucky, and stumbles on an idea of this kind, most likely it will be a translation of a classical writing, an article written in a very complex fossil language, or an intervention or intrigue that will soon fade into the social networking swallow.

==Rationale for the Proposed Project==

==Rationale for the Proposed Project==

Wiki Tanzeer do not only try to confront this objective circumstance that deprives the Egyptian (and Arab) youth of exposure to progressive and liberating ideas; as a result of the nature of society, the level of education and media, and the low quality of Arabic electronic content; by providing serious content based on facts, and promoting reasoning , critical thinking and values of justice and freedom; but it also take into account the self-circumstance of the millennium generation.

Wiki Tanzeer do not only try to confront this objective circumstance that deprives Egyptian (and Arab) youth of exposure to progressive and liberating ideas; as a result of the nature of society, the level of education and media, and the low quality of Arabic e-content; by providing serious, fact based content, that promotes reasoning , critical thinking and values of justice and freedom; but it also take into account the self-circumstance of the millennium generation.

The millennium generation, or at least a large part of it, does not read paper books or newspapers, and does not watch television. It is a generation who grew up on the Internet and on the use of digital devices that perform functions of communication, entertainment and learning, all-in-one. If one of them is exposed to a complex idea or something written in a language far from his vocabulary or in unjustified prolongation, he will move away from it by a touch on his phone screen.  

The millennium generation, or at least a large part of it, does not read paper books or newspapers, and does not watch television. It is a generation that grew up on the Internet and on the use of digital devices that perform functions of communication, entertainment and learning, all-in-one. If one of them is exposed to a complicated idea or something written in a language far from his daily vocabulary or in unjustified prolongation, he will immediately move away from it by a touch on his phone screen.  

Not only we will strive for quality, simplicity and attractiveness, but we will be modest enough to admit that, during the content production process, we will be learning how to address this generation by relying on a majority of young editors. We will discuss, guide and help but at the end the content will come out expressing them and trying to respond to their aspirations, not our perception about of them.

Not only we will strive for quality, simplicity and attractiveness, but we will be modest enough to admit that, during the content production process, we will be experimenting learning how to address this generation by relying on a majority of young editors. We will discuss, guide and help but at the end the content will come out expressing them and trying to respond to their aspirations, not our perception about of them.

We will start by producing, cumulative and constantly evolving, written knowledge, provided with links to other readings for those who want to expand. But we will target the use this content, perhaps through others, in producing memes, infographics, videos, and podcasts, in order that the message arrives, to whom do not read at all, and prefer these mediums to receive knowledge.

We will start by producing, cumulative and constantly evolving, written knowledge, provided with links to other readings for those who want to expand. And we will also target the use this content, perhaps by others, in producing memes, infographics, videos, and podcasts, in order that the message arrives, even for those who do not read at all, and prefer to receive knowledge through these mediums.

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