Knowledge is Power
Just three words make up this well-worn idiom that manages to convey so much from relatively so little. Said to have originated from Sanskrit teachings, the idea that access to information rewards you with access to opportunity forms the very foundation of almost everything we do.
We live in a world where, with the entirety of the world’s knowledge in the palm of our hands, we’ve never had so much access to information. We can work from anywhere; we can virtually cross borders and timezones; we can explore myriad different viewpoints. Yet largely, we don’t. The access to opportunity, the utopian promise of those three simple words, has become fragmented, hindered, and overwhelming as our knowledge base grows. Our always-on, ever-connected, globalised world has left society facing more inequality and divisiveness, not less. In many ways, it’s widened the gap between those who have, and those who have not.
In the pursuit of prioritising engagement and growth, technology platforms have created a race for human attention that the Center for Humane Technology (CHT) believes has “unleashed invisible harms to society.” And one of the biggest invisible harms? Our ability to learn.
But fear not, there is a learning revolution afoot. One that doesn’t call for a blanket ban on tech — a ban that would both be unsustainable and counterintuitive — but which combines the best of what digital technology and knowledge sharing has to offer, with a focus on using this technology for the greater good. Technology that tackles the exponential growth of information in a humane way, to strengthen, not weaken, our interactions with our devices. And technology that is designed to empower people; free from negativity, bias and hate.
Today, we’re thrilled to officially unveil what we consider will play a key role in this revolution. We give you, Uptime.
Uptime is available, for free, on the Apple App Store in 101 countries, and is coming to the Google Play Store on 22 February. At the heart of Uptime are expertly curated five-minute Knowledge Hacks derived from advanced AI and human curation. The very best books, documentaries and courses from the world’s most inspiring minds are distilled into bitesize visual stories that are fun, fast and easy to share. All from sources you can trust.
In the same way the Knowledge Is Power idiom conveys so much with relatively so little, so too do our Knowledge Hacks.
These Knowledge Hacks combine a unique mix of audio, video and text in a format that’s been scientifically proven to keep you engaged, making you more likely to retain the information you’re absorbing. And once you’re ready to learn more, Uptime will guide you through — either to purchase the full content, or discover similar Hacks tailored to you.
Ultimately, Uptime was born out of a desire to create an app that inspired people, in contrast to many apps on the market that can perpetuate negative feelings and experiences. All the while giving people a chance to learn, expand their knowledge and enrich their lives.
All three of us, as well as friends, family and colleagues were feeling overloaded with information. We all wanted to stay on top of current trends — both for personal and professional reasons — but we either didn’t have the time, or the knowledge, to find the best pieces of content to enable this. Every year, more than two million books are released, and hundreds of thousands of courses go online. The selection is so large, it has been estimated that if a person was to read one book a day, it would take them in excess of 365,000 years to read all of the books ever written.
This makes it exponentially difficult for users to sift through the entire catalogue of content to find the books, courses and documentaries that are relevant and good value for money. A growing body of research also points to a correlation between the level of digital overload and a person’s increased risk of anxiety, depression and tech addiction. Humans have a shorter attention span now than they did a decade ago and this, coupled with the need to stay relevant, all while attempting to homeschool children while working, or similar, can have an impact on productivity, creativity and overall well being.
In setting out to develop a learning initiative that tackled these problems, we asked ourselves the question: “What would be considered a safe and viable learning experience that would empower people to thrive and create a positive impact in this fast-changing world?”
Last year, the global education technology market was valued at $89.07 billion and is on course to grow to $375 billion in the next five years. Within this market, lifelong learning is a growing trend, with adults keen to improve their so-called soft skills and gain additional knowledge at a time and location that suits them.
At the same time, sociologists and pedagogists are calling for the traditional “Three Rs” — reading, writing and arithmetic, to be replaced with the “Four Cs” — critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. More broadly, historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari believes schools should downplay technical skills and shift away from measuring success via exams, instead opting to emphasise general-purpose life skills. Skills such as the ability to deal with change, to learn new things and to preserve your mental balance in unfamiliar situations. Skills that would have served many of us well given the current pandemic.
As Harari writes in his book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century (available on Uptime): “In order to keep up with the world of 2050, you will need not merely to invent new ideas and products — you will above all need to reinvent yourself again and again.”
If we go back to the Latin meanings of the words education and learning, they were never centred on achieving straight As, nor does the etymology point to structured study. Instead they translate as “drawing out or drawing forth” from within, and “to follow or find the path.” With Uptime we’re hoping to take learning and education back to its roots. To foster people’s inherent needs to draw from within; to find their own paths; to reconnect with the concepts of sharing, caring, and the desire for the truth — concepts we instinctively learn as children but which can get lost along the way. We want to transform how people access digital learning, giving them a safe space away from echo chambers and advertising, to dip into a topic they’re interested in and come away from using their phones feeling accomplished and fulfilled.
At launch, Uptime is offering more than 1,500 Knowledge Hacks from books, courses and documentaries. Over the coming weeks and months we’ll be adding many more — including New York Times bestsellers, Academy Award-winning documentaries and only the very best courses.
We couldn’t have reached this milestone moment without our team of curators, designers and developers, and of course the authors, filmmakers and course creators, and we want to personally thank them. We also want to thank our brilliant team of investors for supporting us all the way.
And to all of you — our team, our investors, our creators and our users, our pledge is this: Uptime isn’t going to be another app that sucks up all your time. Instead it will help you reclaim it. Giving you the tools you need to expand your mind in short, sharp bursts, before letting you get on with whatever else you have to do.
We are excited for you to join us on this journey. Onwards & Uptime!
N.B We’re looking for authors, documentary filmmakers, and course creators to get in touch so we can discuss how we can work together to change the world with Uptime. Write us at info@uptime.app. Thank you!
