I’ve struggled to find anyone willing to pin down openness. Recently there was a delightful schism where the ambiguous and the literal went in opposite directions. As I said then, there is no great rallying cry for ambiguity. People of the world unite,  you have nothing to lose but your dictionaries. A post definition light brigade who liberated from the need to reason why could ride into the valley of death, well, because. Liberated from meaning and definition, any road or any action can take you where you want to go. You can’t be manifest, without a manifesto. A joyful asymmetry remains possible, perhaps, without a clarion call, but how open are localised lone gunners, like boiled down Englishmen in their castles.

So what of where we go with this ambiguity? What does it matter? It matters, innately, fundamentally when from it’s own lexical ether it seeks to take form. Then this ambiguous beast, becomes part chameleon part imitation part parasite takes on the form you want it to. Then as this golden cow craven image allows you to shine its reflected glory. How perfect that this chimera can do no wrong, a buffet cart creation built to make everything ok. Perfect ambiguity and the infinite menu, damm you literal types and your fixed menus.

So to this word, this empty ambiguous meaning does a slew, a burst dam of wealth down through the valley of death. An Egyptian king and chariots, the light Brigade swept away and martyred for the chimera definition  You understand when money, and perhaps its bastard son teaching are involved that suddenly the ambiguity becomes somewhat of a danger. Different thinking is inevitable in the world, so ambiguity, or at least a breadth of thought pearl wrapped around a single grain.

What of the moment when the ambiguity becomes a divisive term? What of when you can be criticised-ostracised for the failure to be comply with an ambiguous term? So how then does this term, so ambiguous, so impossible to define, become a stick with which to beat people with? Ah humanity and your canonical forms! You poor people who just aren’t close enough to are meaning of the word which has no meaning! Call yourself a patriot! Barely! Call yourself proud of your country! How? LIAR!

Why nations? Well, now we’ve decentralised meaning to the populace, everyone has their own meaning. And well that way trouble lies. Because then you have the true meanings, and the pure meanings and the I think meanings and before you know it people are arguing over it (errrr like this) and uh oh, nasty terms ahoy. You know this word that we don’t define. WELL I AM MUCH MORE IT THAN YOU ARE? Deal with it.

So we take the word back, we reclaim the word! We take the concept back and before you know it everyone agrees and their is no dissent and we have a meaning and don’t ask that many questions about those who had the different meaning or go down the woods for a few years. The teddy bears ain’t having a picnic, shall we say.

Innately we don’t live in a world where words sit still and gather dust, unless they drift from usage like semantic ghost ships. So how can I rail against ambiguity whilst accept it. Because sometimes the word is to distinguish a new idea, so the modernists and the futurists and the post modern people all had concepts to under pin them. A movement like the open movement, is like independent records a somewhat counter culture, or counter hegemony can’t really be acceptably ambigious due to the scale of the dominant culture and the desire to do something different – and – if we don’t define what makes us different, then co-option as the major labels make fake independents and bands sell out is just inevitable, which undermines the whole point of being counter.

But, but, but, but if you think that the hegemony is wrong, don’t you need to change it? Can you accept passing an ambiguity and an unfettered hegemony to the future? Can you accept the creation of an academic bubble when millions are graced on ambiguity? Does it seem right that those garlanded with the spoils can’t even define the thing that has led to the garlands? Deep pocketed but shallow words.

So let’s look at these revellers in ambiguity. The Open University, chief fog in this pyramid scheme of not-knowledge. A Regius Professor on Open Learning? But what is Open? A MOOC on Open Learning, which points people to OER repositories which aren’t? And this on a website paid for by British taxpayers, but pretending to be an American University? Open! So do we ever get a definition of Open! Maybe – look!

“Massive open online courses could be hindering the development of open educational resources because they do not allow everyone to contribute to the innovation of content….”

So if you possibly hinder you stop Open! But the MOOCs aren’t using Open! content they just call themselves Open! Like the Open! University. Which doesn’t allow everyone to contribute. Open!

“They are creating a sort of closed community in the open.”

What like charging fees to attend the course, like you do at the Open! University. Or licensing content BY-NC-SA so then I can only contribute if I refuse to make money from it! Eh? Open! Innovate! Disrupt!

So which one is it? Come on, you’ve got a Regius Professor and a few million pounds to research OER? But no one seems to know what it is? Keeping it vague because it suits? Maintain a mystery as there is money in it? Academic mis-selling? What’s a few million eh? No harm in a few philanthropic millions bailing out an idea that’s 10 years old and already needs reclaiming? Yes, let’s all tilt at those evil not-us Silo-Windmills because they just aren’t open. Which means what? Erm! Open! Well several million pounds later we still don’t know? Perhaps we need to dig up half of Switzerland and smash CC licenses into each other to see if we can discover the Open! particle. Maybe we could fund OER projects which host copyrighted content, like listing OER repos which aren’t? Because that is so different to Google it’s pretty much vital to Open! progressing.

Open’s dead and lazy, lucre worshiping ambiguity is the Manson family.  Shot by both sides, I think they came to some sort of understanding.