Ce sont les amateurs qui vont changer le monde!

Des sources de la science, au monde du logiciel libre, en passant par le Rap et The Sims… c’est d’abord et avant tout au retour des amateurs, mis en réseau par les technologies qu’il convient de porter attention. Charles Leadbeater le décrit très bien dans la plus récente livraison de Fast Company:

« The 20th century was marked by the rise of professionals in medicine, science, education, and politics. In one field after another, amateurs and their ramshackle organizations were driven out by people who knew what they were doing and had certificates to prove it. Now that historic shift seems to be reversing. […]

Passionate amateurs, empowered by technology and linked to one another, are reshaping business, politics, science, and culture. […]

Some professionals will find that unsettling; they will seek to defend their monopolies. The more enlightened will understand that the landscape is changing. Knowledge is widely distributed, not controlled in a few ivory towers. The most powerful organizations will enable professionals and amateurs to combine distributed know-how to solve complex problems. […]

Rising participation in education will give people skills to pursue those activities. New media and technology enable Pro-Ams to organize. […]

After a century in decline, amateurs will rise again. And they will change the world. »

Cette révolution amateure est un phénomène très proche de ce que j’essayais de décrire dans mon deuxième essai sur la cyberpédagogie… et qui renforce ma conviction pour le modèle de la cité éducative — parce que c’est la cité idéale pour les amateurs.