Most ideas we encounter in daily life are of little consequence: “I have an idea, let’s go see a movie.” But occasionally an idea comes along that changes our understanding of the universe: “Eureka!”

Good ideas rarely happen in isolation. Usually, they are built on another good idea, which is built on another. You don’t get to invent penicillin without a thorough understanding of chemistry. So, to develop a robust ideas culture, ideas need to be heard, and shared.

Intellectual and scientific communities are showing the way. Helped immeasurably by new communications technologies, many scholars, researchers, doctors, and other professional generators of ideas are now collaborating, not competing.

Citizen scientists are contributing to important research projects run by major, multi-national institutions. Citizen journalists are sharing vital pieces of news with the world. Maker culture is enabling and inspiring people to create, program and design. Open source learning and schools in the cloud are encouraging autodidacts everywhere. In transformative areas like 3D printing, the effect of a culture dedicated to the sharing of information is tangible.

This shift goes beyond a bunch of geeks talking online. We are witnessing a fundamental change in our conception of knowledge.

Knowledge will always be power, but the way it is understood and used is undergoing revolutionary change. Ideas are no longer locked up in ivory towers and shielded behind patents. They are accessible to far greater numbers of people. They generate feedback, argument, discussion and suggestion faster than ever.

There is still a long way to go, but the spread of knowledge has never been more democratic.

Sydney is enjoying a resurgence of interest in ideas expressed live and in public. The proliferation of talks festivals and events is a clear example of this – from the Sydney Writers’ Festival, Ideas in the House, Vivid Ideas and IQ2, to the Festival of Dangerous Ideas and TEDxSydney (for which I lead the curatorial committee). Ideas events have entrenched themselves in the city’s cultural calendar. Their audiences are diverse and deeply engaged. Hearing a philosopher elegantly elaborating on her thought processes is now a hot night out.

Not only do we love getting together in a big room to listen to clever people saying clever things, we also love logging onto our computers and watching recordings of these clever people. Witness the success of TED and TEDx, ABC’s Big Ideas, and the all of the talks channels on YouTube.

With so many ideas flying around the public sphere, are we just creating an increasingly meaningless churn of forgettable thoughts?

I would not for a second try and argue that every idea is worthwhile, or world-changing, or that everyone who speaks at these events has interesting things to say. But I strongly believe a society which creates spaces for people to express ideas publicly, and encourages thoughtful argument amongst its citizens, is a more interesting, inclusive, dynamic and creative place to live.

The more widely these ideas can be spread the better. There’s an inclination in some circles (I’m looking at you, traditional academic culture) to regard ideas forums that are popular and well-marketed as being inherently inferior. In this new world of open knowledge, these sorts of attitudes are increasingly out-of-touch. Some of the most powerful ideas in history were expressed without jargon, to a mass audience of all levels of education – example “I have a dream”, or “cigarettes may cause cancer”.

Similarly, while good ideas can be decades in the making, many good ideas don’t need hours to be expressed or explained. Far from dumbing down, it takes an impressive intellect to be able to communicate a complex idea in 15 minutes without patronising the audience. And 15 minutes of video is eminently more shareable online than 60. The more people who hear a good idea, the more likely it is to be actually realised, effect some sort of social change, or at least change a mind.

At a time when universities, the CSIRO, the ABC and many of our major cultural organisations are facing cuts in the amount of government money they receive, we need to take pause and think about the benefits of a ideas-rich society. The intellectual life of a community is expressed through the ideas it circulates, discusses, and argues about. We are at a point in history where ideas can be more easily spread than ever before, and we are already seeing significant innovations as a result. It is crucial that the spaces, in real life and online, in which ideas can be expressed and shared are nurtured, and made free and accessible to all of us.