Integrative mechanisms in the growth of knowledge: A legacy of Manfred Kochen∗

摘要

Within the extensive writings of Manfred Kochen can be found a recurrent and intriguing theme of extraordinary importance, a theme encompassing first of all the thesis that the growth of knowledge gives rise to the problem of fragmentation. That problem in turn stimulates the study of integrative mechanisms. Kochen has persuasively argued that synthesis, evaluation, and the creation of connections between fragments all deserve higher priority than they are presently accorded. He has also analyzed cerain simple knowledge structures from the viewpoint of cognitive science in an attempt to capture what is essential for explaining how knowledge can grow in the mind. It is shown here how a similar model can be applied to science literature structures in a way that demonstrates the possibility of discovering new knowledge by assembling and conecting published fragments in novel ways. It is further shown how Kochen's analysis of the “small world phenomenon” (networks of acquaintances) involves problems and questions similar to those that arise in the study of linkages between scientific articles.