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At both a micro-information level and a macro-societal level, the concepts of "knowledge" and "wisdom" are complementary - in both decisions and in social structures and institutions. At the decision level, knowledge is concerned with how to make a proper choice of means, where "best" is measured as the efficiency toward achieving an end. Wisdom is concerned with how to make a proper choice of ends that attain "best" values.
At a societal level, knowledge is managed through science/technology and innovation. And while science/technology is society's way to create new means with high efficiencies, they reveal nothing about values. Technology can be used for good or for evil, to make the world into a garden or to destroy all life. It is societal wisdom which should influence the choice of proper ends -- ends to make the world a garden.
How can society make progress in wisdom as well as knowledge? Historically, the disciplines of the physical sciences and biology have provided scientific foundations for societal knowledge But the social science disciplines of sociology, economics, political science have not provided a similar scientific foundation for societal wisdom. To redress this gap, Frederick Betz examines several cases in recent history that display a fundamental paradox between scientific/technological achievement with devastating social effects (i.e., historical events of ideological dictatorships in Russia, Germany, China, and Yugoslavia). He builds a new framework for applying social science perspectives to explain societal histories and social theory. Emerging from this methodological and empirical investigation is a general topological theory of societal dynamics. This theory andmethodology can be used to integrate history and social science toward establishing grounded principles of societal wisdom.
List of contents
Chapter 1 societal wisdom chapter 2 ideology and dictatorship chapter 3 idealsm and realism chapter 4 societal models chapter 5 ethics in society chapter 6 empirical and add the chapter 7 designing society chapter 8 re-designing society chapter 9 reforming society chapter 10 self-organizing systems chapter 11 societal stasis and change chapter 12 methodology for integrating history and social sciences.
About the author
FREDERICK BETZ, Program Director in the Technology Management Program of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland University College (UMUC), is renowned for his work in the management of technology. He is the author of Managing Technological Innovation, also published by Wiley. A library of case studies is available at www.wiley.com/betz§
Summary
At both a micro-information level and a macro-societal level, the concepts of “knowledge” and “wisdom” are complementary – in both decisions and in social structures and institutions. At the decision level, knowledge is concerned with how to make a proper choice of means, where “best” is measured as the efficiency toward achieving an end. Wisdom is concerned with how to make a proper choice of ends that attain “best” values.
At a societal level, knowledge is managed through science/technology and innovation. And while science/technology is society's way to create new means with high efficiencies, they reveal nothing about values. Technology can be used for good or for evil, to make the world into a garden or to destroy all life. It is societal wisdom which should influence the choice of proper ends -- ends to make the world a garden.
How can society make progress in wisdom as well as knowledge? Historically, the disciplines of the physical sciences and biology have provided scientific foundations for societal knowledge But the social science disciplines of sociology, economics, political science have not provided a similar scientific foundation for societal wisdom. To redress this gap, Frederick Betz examines several cases in recent history that display a fundamental paradox between scientific/technological achievement with devastating social effects (i.e., historical events of ideological dictatorships in Russia, Germany, China, and Yugoslavia). He builds a new framework for applying social science perspectives to explain societal histories and social theory. Emerging from this methodological and empirical investigation is a general topological theory of societal dynamics. This theory andmethodology can be used to integrate history and social science toward establishing grounded principles of societal wisdom.
