I came across an interesting looking paper this week, co-authored by a prominent leadership “thought leader”, but there’s no open access version available, which means it’s only accessible by people willing/able to pay £30 for a copy, or who work or study in an academic institution. I have a deep love of academic study, and I sincerely believe in the pursuit of knowledge without any specific agenda, a la Max Planck: “Scientific discovery and scientific knowledge have been achieved only by those who have gone in pursuit of it without any practical purpose whatsoever in view.” . However, knowledge and insight are nothing if not shared. Information should be open and accessible.
Information that is hoarded behind institutional or commercial walls is of no value other than to those who created it. It should be of no surprise that people reject knowledge that they have no access to.
And it’s for that reason, that no matter how interesting or ground breaking the research is, if it’s not accessible to those without the privilege of money or academic background, I’m not going to share it here.