Modelling as a way of organising knowledge

Abstract

The paper is motivated by the need of to address a new the old topic of operational research and hard (but also soft) systems science: what is the role of mathematical modelling, how does it relate to knowledge, to creativity, to human concerns? Such a need arises because of the great change observed today, of informational revolution, of transition towards knowledge-based economy, towards networked organization of our social and economic life. During last 50 years operational research, mathematical modelling and computerised techniques of model analysis and optimisation contributed essentially to the change of perception of contemporary world, characteristic for the current informational revolution indicating the change of civilisation eras. These contributions have been noted during these years inside operational research, but analysed mostly from so-called soft systems thinking perspective. Main contributions to the actual formation of the new era, however, came from the hard systems research, in particular, as we shall show, from mathematical modelling in applications to the development of technological systems. The new civilisation era of information and knowledge-based economy started around 1980. It is a long duration historical era, characterised by a new way of understanding the world. This understanding is systemic and chaotic; in particular, it assumes the emergence of qualitatively new properties of complex systems on higher layers of complexity, which cannot be reduced to the properties of system components. On this background, it is necessary to reflect a new on the theory of knowledge. The paper presents a discussion of the concept of knowledge from several perspectives, such as the perspective of operational research, of systems science, of mathematical modelling, of knowledge-based economy, of knowledge engineering and knowledge management, of interactive model-based decision support. The human-centred development of informational technology necessitates a re-appraisal of soft systems approaches; their values and limitations are discussed. Additionally, a rational theory of intuition is recalled to show its relation with the concept of tacit knowledge, of knowledge creation and with harmonious approaches to knowledge characterising Far East philosophy as well as Japanese approaches to knowledge management and creation. Epistemological conclusions from the rational theory of intuition are discussed, including a new concept of micro-theories of knowledge creation and the concept of Creative Space.