The title of this book may surprise many readers and, therefore, demands a word of explanation. The book is concerned with human knowledge and its consequences. Knowledge is a complex phenomenon, which can be studied from different points of view. The theory of the ecology of knowledge developed by the present writer is one of them.

First, the very name of this theory has to be justified. Ecology is a branch of biology studying the relationships of organisms with their environment. As we now know, these relationships are vital for the existence and proper functioning of living beings. This is why ecology became such a fast developing branch of life sciences. What is important for us here is the fact that ecology is essentially a science of relationships, i.e., of the interdependence of various factors in a dynamic system. This is the reason why the name ecology of knowledge seemed appropriate for the theory discussed in this book. The ecology of knowledge is a study of the relationship existing between humans and the body of knowledge. Knowledge is viewed in this theory as a distinct element of the human environment and a rapidly growing factor in human life.

The body of existing knowledge is a product of human evolution, but it is not a natural product in the same sense as is a stone or a tree. Knowledge is a human product more like a tool, a dwelling or a system of laws. In order to underline the artifactual character of the body of knowledge, as well the fact that it is always more or less structured, it can be called the knowledge construct.

The central premise of the ecology of knowledge is the affirmation of the distinction, i.e., the nonidentity of the knowledge construct and knowers. The knowledge construct is seen as an entity in its own right, possessing an existence of its own and distinct from the knowers who produce it. This is why, it can be viewed as an element of the human environment with which knowers interact in a feeding — either feedforward or feedback relationship. Because of this interaction the knowledge construct plays such an important role in human life, both in thinking and in doing. This apparently simple and obvious affirmation has far-reaching consequences, incompatible with some deeply ingrained beliefs proper to the Western cultural tradition. The incompatibility is the consequence of the distinction introduced by ancient Greek thinkers who divided human knowledge into the theoretical or the contemplative and the practical. The former was supposed to have no concrete consequences outside the knower’s intellect. The latter was geared to the production of material objects and considered of socially low status as a craft. The distinction between the two kinds of knowledge became deeply embedded in the Western mentality and obscured the fact that knowledge, all knowledge, is power, i.e., that it has the capacity to produce concrete results, whether this is immediately evident or not. The affirmation that knowledge is power, made almost four centuries ago by Francis Bacon, is another important thesis of the ecology of knowledge.

Like many other types of power, knowledge obviously can be used for good or bad purposes. What is less obvious is the fact that whatever the intentions of those who develop and/or use knowledge, it does produce positive and negative effects. This realization was one of the principal reasons which motivated the present writer to develop the theory of the ecology of knowledge. In our age of explosive development of cognition, it is imperative to understand as clearly and as adequately as possible the role of knowledge and its consequences in the lives of individuals, societies and humanity in its totality. One of the major consequences of the development of knowledge is the growing worldwide economic, political and cultural interdependence. This globalization of humanity brings us face to face with the painful problem of the uneven distribution of knowledge and the great differences existing between culturally determined knowledge constructs. The fact is that there is no one universal and evenly distributed knowledge construct, but many differing in structure, mode and level of development.

The faster knowledge develops, the more countries become interdependent and their cultures are affected by each other consequently, the more everybody has to be mindful of the differences existing in the sphere of knowledge and of their consequences. It is in the interest of all concerned, whether great or small, strong or weak, to be able to cope effectively with the difficulties which the disparities in the possession and the use of knowledge create. The differences existing between knowledge constructs and the resulting problems are but one class of problems generated by the development of knowledge which humanity has to face. This is why an understanding of the phenomenon of knowledge and of its global implications are urgently needed, as well as being very interesting theoretically. May the present volume help in generating this understanding.