Denham Grey has long argued that knowledge is socially constructed. He's just posted an article, diving into his thinking, Social knowledge:
Surowiecki's "The wisdom of crowds" tells anecdotes and stories that illustrate some of the advantages of collective decision making, but my epiphany runs deeper that decisions and problem solving, to the very nature of knowledge itself. The route to working with knowledge lies through people, building relationships & trust, deep dialog and creative abrasion. There needs to be diversity of ideas and an environment where failures and reflection are valued as learning enablers.
Over the weekend at BlawgThink and last night in an advising group meeting, the idea that knowledge comes through interaction was highlighted again and again. Sure, we can get elements from reading and studying and pondering, but Denham's suggestion that knowledge is only born out on the playing field of life is close to the core for me.
There are many other interesting bits of this article. Go have a read.