Collaborative translations, the Worldwide Lexicon and collective intelligence

Collaborative translations, the Worldwide Lexicon and collective intelligence

True communication had always language as a barrier. Any discourse above the fundamental, pantomimic level requires a common language. Although the worldwide web has brought us all much closer tearing down any sense of space, this basic obstacle in the exchange of information still remains.

Sure there is a multitude of 'bots', which can translate any web content, but lets face it: "Automated computer translation is decades away from producing acceptable content for most forms of communication."

In the steps of Wikipedia, the Worldwide Lexicon calls on the collective knowledge to bring online communication in new realms. The translation of web content is in the hands of the users.

Now the project brings a new plugin, which makes translation much easier. It justs adds a small pencil in the page and by clicking on it you can start translating the site's content.

Wisdom of crowds

The potential of abuse is quite obvious. By installing this plugin (either in your site or blog), you give everyone the opportunity to translate your content in any way he/she wishes. Still, the worldwidelexicon relies on the wisdom of crowds to aggregate information correctly. Anyone comfortable with two or more languages can choose any web page and translate its content. Meanwhile other users are also free to rate your translation and even redo it or edit it. An emergent microbehavior where many agents work to develop a macrobehavior develops.

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