[Paper Review] The Construction and Globalization of the Knowledge Base in Inter-human Communication Systems

Loet Leydesdorff|ArXiv.org|Dec 7, 2009

University-Industry-Government Innovation Models43 references3 citations

TL;DR

This paper proposes that inter-human communication operates on two levels: information exchange with meaning and reflexive communication of meaning, enabled by human language as an evolutionary mechanism. It argues that codifying hindsight perspectives on knowledge production enables social organization and globalization of communication systems, suggesting that knowledge-based societies self-organize through recursive, historically stabilized patterns, though this remains a hypothesis subject to further validation.

ABSTRACT

The relationship between the "knowledge base" and the "globalization" of communication systems is discussed from the perspective of communication theory. I argue that inter-human communication takes place at two levels. At the first level information is exchanged and provided with meaning and at the second level meaning can reflexively be communicated. Human language can be considered as the evolutionary achievement which enables us to use these two channels of communication simultaneously. Providing meaning from the perspective of hindsight is a recursive operation: a meaning that makes a difference can be considered as knowledge. If the production of knowledge is socially organized, the perspective of hindsight can further be codified. This adds globalization to the historically stabilized patterns of communications. Globalization can be expected to transform the communications in an evolutionary mode. However, the self-organization of a knowledge-based society remains an expectation with the status of a hypothesis.

Motivation & Objective

• To examine the dual-level nature of inter-human communication: information exchange and reflexive meaning communication.
• To analyze how human language enables the simultaneous operation of these two communication levels.
• To investigate how the codification of hindsight perspectives on knowledge production leads to social organization and globalization of communication systems.
• To assess the hypothesis that knowledge-based societies self-organize through historically stabilized, recursive communication patterns.
• To explore the evolutionary implications of globalization in communication systems from a communication theory perspective.

Proposed method

• Applies communication theory to model inter-human communication as operating on two recursive levels: information exchange with meaning and reflexive communication of meaning.
• Uses the concept of 'hindsight' as a recursive operation: a meaning that makes a difference is considered knowledge.
• Analyzes how socially organized knowledge production allows the codification of hindsight perspectives, embedding them into communication systems.
• Introduces the idea that globalization emerges from the stabilization of communication patterns over time, especially when codified.
• Frames globalization as an evolutionary transformation of communication systems, driven by the accumulation and codification of knowledge.
• Treats the self-organization of a knowledge-based society as a hypothesis requiring further empirical validation.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How do inter-human communication systems operate on two distinct levels: information exchange and reflexive meaning communication?
• RQ2 In what way does human language enable the simultaneous operation of these two communication levels?
• RQ3 How does the perspective of hindsight function as a recursive operation in the production of knowledge?
• RQ4 What role does codification play in transforming individual knowledge production into socially stabilized, globalized communication patterns?
• RQ5 To what extent can the self-organization of a knowledge-based society be considered an evolutionary process driven by communication globalization?

Key findings

• Human language enables the co-occurrence of information exchange and reflexive meaning communication, forming a dual-channel system.
• A meaning that makes a difference is defined as knowledge, and this definition is recursively applied through hindsight.
• Codification of hindsight perspectives allows the social organization of knowledge production, embedding it into communication systems.
• Globalization of communication systems emerges from the historical stabilization of these codified, socially organized knowledge patterns.
• The self-organization of a knowledge-based society is proposed as a hypothesis, not yet empirically confirmed, but framed as an evolutionary process.
• The paper suggests that globalization transforms communication systems by embedding knowledge into reflexive, recursive structures over time.