Re: [Fis] CONSILIENCE & interdisciplinarity

Fis friends,

A couple of brief comments to add:

If I say that political knowledge on world problems has to follow the
series of inclusive realms: (individuals (social groups (towns (regions
(countries...)))), well, I do not think that my comment would be much
illuminating for anyone. However, for a series of reasons, the discussion
on the structure and dynamics of scientific disciplines has been left in
such a state of sophistication --it has become merely a matter of
'pragmatics' . We have to go beyond elementary notions only, if I may say,
because the social dynamics of knowdlege is becoming a pressing problem for
a sustainable world (perhaps the best new ideas on the interrelationship of
scientific disciplines among themselves and with social life is coming from
that direction --towards a "New social contract for science" --Gibbons).

Another point relates to the comparison of information science with
Tribology. We may share a common basis: "making & breaking of bonds" and a
similar vastness of scopes (as they reach up to planetary tectonics too).
But they do not have that dramatic divide that we have in info sci, between
the animate and the inanimate. Actually, once we cross information physics
and enter into the bioinformation realm, all type of thermodynamic
improbability, combinatoric span, and molecular diversity estimators scale
up in multiple orders of magnitude respect the inanimate (including an
amazing disposability of the own components--protein degradation,
apoptosis--not really for senescence reasons but for adaptability
purposes!). The threshold towards neural information is even more
fascinating (consciousness lies behind that), not to speak about
the contemporary "information society" or "information revolution" ....
Beyond fads and fashions, somehow at fis we have to attempt explorations in
strategic checkpoints where most of the complexity is dormant and left
outside scores of conventional disciplines and new interdisciplinary
domains, stating the overall goal -- why not?-- that we have to build a
general consilience in the sciences around informational themes.

Having spent my two cents, I would encourage that we all speak up our
half-baked visions and personal experiences about the conundrums
surrounding the interdisciplinary problem / consilience.

best regards

Pedro

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Received on Fri Oct 8 12:19:46 2004