Episode 8: BitTorrent and poverty

3 Comments

1. 

   blisz 9 May 2010

   Bismillah,
   asalamu alaikum

   you know, this idea can also work in terms of spreading knowledge in areas where there is a lack of real scholars, such as many places in the west. As long as the seeder in your terminology has true knowledge and each leecher passes on only the pure knowledge he has taken from the seeder (and doesn’t add his own opinion to it), there is no reason to say this method won’t work. In both cases it is not necessary to have one absolutely knowledgeable or wealthy person to solve all of the world’s problems, as long as everyone helps with what little they can.

   However both schemes rely on one key factor: genuine and pure-spirited people. If a leecher is corrupt they can sabotage both systems, by taking what is good and not returning it in its proper form or quantity for another to benefit from. Sadly, as this method relies on strength in numbers, this may drain resources, confuse issues and ultimately be its downfall if not properly regulated.

   btw, there are some charities doing something along these lines. they will lend a family a cow for a year, which they keep, can drink the milk, use the animal to plough their land, use the manure as fertiliser and keep the offspring if it has a calf. after a year they return the original cow and another family gets it for the next year. Lovely scheme mashaAllah, and seems to be working very well… I guess you can’t return less of the cow than you were given initially

   with best wishes & salam.
2. 

   Ehsan 10 May 2010

   @blisz

   That was some good input of yours. There are four scenarios I can think of:

   1) Both seeder and leechers are pure
   2) Seeder is pure but leechers are impure
   3) Seeder is impure but leechers are pure
   4) Both seeder and leecher are impure

   So there is a 25% probability that a BitTorrent-system of knowledge-sharing might work in our communities.

   What perhaps could be done is to enforce the Islah al-Nafs program which Imam Khomeini(RA) discusses in his “Jihad al-Akbar“. Basically all seeders will need moral and spiritual mentors and supervisors which keep them on track and thus the seeders can act as moral and spiritual mentors towards the leechers who spread the knowledge.

   What do you think about that?

   PS. Love the cow-idea!
3. 

   blisz 11 May 2010

   Bismillah,
   asalamu alaikum,

   I think there is much less chance of success, given that each individual leecher at various branching levels may be corrupted, and so damage the entire system from themselves onwards. With a potentially infinite number of leechers participating, complete success without active regulation is statistically almost impossible. In fact isn’t this kind of what happened on the advent of Islam with the teachings of rasool Allah (saw), and the subsequent generations who learnt through the narrations of others?

   The only workable system would be as you suggest, with pure, truthful superiors regulating and training those beneath them. what a beautiful thing that would be to see… a system of true and accessible guidance for those who would love to learn and hope and pray for a teacher, as individual salvation; and collectively, generations awaken like wave upon wave, creating an upright, intelligent society and reforming the face of the earth. How wonderful that would be

   with best wishes & salam.

   PS: so do i! —> link