Knowledge,power, and hypermedia

Our paper explores the relationship between knowledge and power first articulated in the modern age by Francis Bacon, in terms of M. Foucault's postmodern critique of Power/Knowledge that seems to reverse the meaning of Bacon's “knowledge is power” maxim. We apply Foucault's critique to instructional technology concentrating especially on hypermedia. We remark on the many similarities between Foucault's postmodern critique and the concerns of Theodore Nelson who coined the words “hypertext” and “hypermedia.” We will combine Foucault's Nietzschian insights with Nelson's characterization of “the Information Lords” to conclude with the following postmodern questions: Who makes the categories and constraints that are translated into truth and power? Is God dead, and if so, who will become the Information Lord?