Knowledge Evolution And Society

Foreword / Eamonn Butler -- Friedrich Hayek, Nobel prizewinner / Arthur Shenfield -- Coping with ignorance / F.A. Hayek -- Science and socialism / F.A. Hayek -- The reactionary nature of the socialist conception / F.A. Hayek -- Our moral heritage / F.A. Hayek.

Jürgen Renn examines the role of knowledge in global transformations going back to the dawn of civilization while providing vital perspectives on the complex challenges confronting us today in the Anthropocene--this new geological epoch shaped by humankind. Renn reframes the history of science and technology within a much broader history of knowledge, analyzing key episodes such as the evolution of writing, the emergence of science in the ancient world, the Scientific Revolution of early modernity, the globalization of knowledge, industrialization, and the profound transformations wrought by modern science. He investigates the evolution of knowledge using an array of disciplines and methods, from cognitive science and experimental psychology to earth science and evolutionary biology. The result is an entirely new framework for understanding structural changes in systems of knowledge--and a bold new approach to the history and philosophy of science.

Originally published in 1971 Evolution – Revolution is an interdisciplinary volume examining inquiry around the central topic of evolution and revolution. Containing contributions from a number of eminent academics of the time, the book addresses the meaning and application of evolution and revolution in the context, not of what things are, or even how they behave, but how they become. The broad interdisciplinary range of essays explores this concept through the idea of development and change and argues that both change, and development must be measured against concepts of flux and that which endures. The editors of the book suggest that these are the ‘invariants’ which contemporary thinkers are beginning to accept as the process-counterparts of Platonic ‘immutables’. Thus this volume examines the two ‘immutables’ of evolution and revolution. The book covers the concept through essays in science, philosophic concepts of rationalism and existentialism, art and religion.

Based on a comprehensive review of human and societal evolution the book develops an approach to conscious, self-guided evolution. In the course of the evolutionary journey of our species, there have been three seminal events. The first happened some seven million yeas ago, when our humanoid ancestors entered on the evolutionary scene. Their journey toward the second crucial event lasted over six million years when - as the greatest event of our evolutionary history - homo sapiens sapiens, started the revolutionary process of cultural evolution. Today, we have arrived at the threshold of the third major event, `the revolution of conscious evolution,' when it becomes our responsibility to enter into the evolutionary design space and guide the evolutionary journey of our species. The book tells the story of the first six million years of the journey in just enough detail to understand how evolution had worked in times when it was primarily biological, driven by natural selection. With the human revolution some fifty thousand years ago, with the emergence of self-reflective consciousness, the evolutionary process transformed from biological into cultural. From this point on, the book follows the journey with detailed attention, in order to learn how cultural evolution works. The book is organized in three parts. Part One commences with an exposition of a brief history of the evolutionary idea through time with a focus on a review of the science of general evolution and specifically social and societal evolution. Next, the book unfolds the `evolutionary story' of our species from the time when the first humanoids entered the evolutionary scene to our current era. Part Two develops a systems view of evolution, explores the ways and means of how evolution works, characterizes evolutionary consciousness and develops the idea of conscious evolution. Part Three builds upon the knowledge developed in the first two parts and sets forth the key conditions of conscious, self-guided evolution, elaborating the core condition, which is the acquisition of evolutionary competence through evolutionary learning. The focus of this part is on an approach to the design of evolutionary guidance systems that our families, neighborhoods, communities, organizations, social and societal systems can use to design the future they aspire to attain. The work is set aside from other statements in three important ways. It provides: (1) a comprehensive review of how evolution has worked with a focus on socio-cultural evolution, (2) an explanation of evolutionary consciousness and the conditions of engaging in conscious evolution, and (3) most significantly, it develops a detailed approach and a methodology to the design of evolutionary guidance systems.

The Evolution of Scientific Knowledge aims to reach a unique understanding of science with the help of economic and sociological theories. The economic theories used are institutionalist and evolutionary. The sociological theories draw from the type of work on social studies of science that have, in recent decades, transformed our picture of science and technology.

A fundamentally new approach to the history of science and technology This book presents a new way of thinking about the history of science and technology, one that offers a grand narrative of human history in which knowledge serves as a critical factor of cultural evolution. Jürgen Renn examines the role of knowledge in global transformations going back to the dawn of civilization while providing vital perspectives on the complex challenges confronting us today in the Anthropocene—this new geological epoch shaped by humankind. Renn reframes the history of science and technology within a much broader history of knowledge, analyzing key episodes such as the evolution of writing, the emergence of science in the ancient world, the Scientific Revolution of early modernity, the globalization of knowledge, industrialization, and the profound transformations wrought by modern science. He investigates the evolution of knowledge using an array of disciplines and methods, from cognitive science and experimental psychology to earth science and evolutionary biology. The result is an entirely new framework for understanding structural changes in systems of knowledge—and a bold new approach to the history and philosophy of science. Written by one of today's preeminent historians of science, The Evolution of Knowledge features discussions of historiographical themes, a glossary of key terms, and practical insights on global issues ranging from climate change to digital capitalism. This incisive book also serves as an invaluable introduction to the history of knowledge.

Knowledge evolution punctuates the previous equilibrium of society and requires us to develop adaptive solutions. One new rule is that as the discovery of new knowledge grows more difficult, more complex organizational and institutional arrangements have to be adopted. Knowledge growth is accelerating because not only are there more creative individuals and organizations developing radical innovations, but also innovative regions are facilitating both of these trends. The discussion of four social regions and the kinds of selves produced help explain partisan divides and integrate the social psychological literature. The growth in knowledge produces two kinds of social changes: In the nature of the social structure and the kinds of institutional problems that have to be solved. The discussion of changes in the stratification system, in the choice of organizational form, and in the spread of inter-organizational networks with tight connections (heterogeneous social capital) allows us to update Marx, Weber, and Durkheim. The new adaptive problems include growing inefficiencies in labor, product, and public markets and the failure of many existing programs. The proposed solutions are the creation of coordinated systemic networks in each of these areas, which integrates the comparative institutional literature, neoclassical economics, and political science.

This book emphasizes the rising need for people to have a basic understanding of science and technology and the emphatic role they can play in shaping the AI-driven future, especially in terms of creating sustainable societies with growing job opportunities. This book highlights why a smoothly functioning society will require, but does not yet possess in critical numbers, policymakers, senior managers, government officials, and those entering the high-end of the AI-driven job market who have a shared vision and a shared understanding of how science shapes the future of sustainable societies. This book makes the case that the destiny of Homo sapiens is not just about evolutionary biology but increasingly about evolutionary knowledge. This book describes the web of knowledge where scientific theories appear as intellectual constructs, which lead to new knowledge that open opportunities for gainful human employment for the well-educated while eliminating jobs for the less-educated by advancing AI in a predator–prey adversarial model (the logistic map), thus raising livelihood concerns across wide swathes of human population. This inevitably leads to the question, “How should intellectual property rights, especially patents, be granted and protected when AI becomes advanced enough to invent without human intervention?” To answer this question, lawmakers, policymakers, managers, government officials, judiciary, enforcement agencies, etc., must have sufficient knowledge of how scientific theories impact modern society. After reading this book, the reader will be able to find answers to the following questions: • How do scientific theories impact modern society?• What is the intellectual base on which science and technology policies are founded?• Why do individuals across a population need to possess scientific knowledge?• What are the rising concerns of people in finding sustainable employment in an AI-driven world?• What is the compelling need to understand the role of patentable inventions in a world where intellectual property is wealth?