Links Between East and West 24 Knowledge,Culture 东西方的连接24 - 知识与文化

(Early hand paintings from Indonesia)

What is the relationship between knowledge and culture? Can any development of knowledge be independent of culture? Since knowledge and culture are indispensable components of human civilization, such questions probe into its core. Through a thorough dive into the past and a bold look into the future, this essay will argue that previously, knowledge was overall tied with culture, but the situation in the years ahead can dramatically change. 

Before the main argument sets in, it is necessary first to define the terms “knowledge” and “culture.” The term “knowledge” can be broadly defined as the “awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation”, while “culture” is “the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society.”

In the past, whether it is mathematics, history, or any other field of knowledge, the understanding of something could not happen without the encouragement of the cultural setting and further promotion of the development of that culture. Start with mathematics, a fundamental science that has a history of millennia. Some mathematical knowledge has been developed due to the need of civilization. Take the ancient Egyptians as an example. Their culture advanced to a point where building pyramids to bury the dead aristocrats was a norm. The construction of the pyramids called for the invention of rather complex geometry and the work of ancient Egyptian mathematicians to discover the properties of pyramidal structures. This example illustrates that certain mathematical knowledge in the past was more or less tied with cultural needs.

It is also true that people can push forward mathematics without feeling the need to do so. In this case, mathematical knowledge was still previously linked to culture. For instance, Alexandria, Egypt, reached one of its most prosperous periods in the 200s BCE. Many mathematicians were working in the glorious library of the city. Still, the one that stood out the most was Eratosthenes, who almost correctly calculated the circumference of the Earth using very basic theorems and ratios. His contributions to the knowledge of mathematics, along with the work of others, cannot be argued for the fulfillment of specific cultural wants. Eratosthenes and his fellow mathematicians, physicians, and theorists might be pushing forward mathematics for the sake of knowledge. However, it cannot be denied that this knowledge was associated with the Greek culture during this period at Alexandria. In fact, the Hellenistic Period refers to a period from around 323 BCE to 31 BCE during which Greek cultural elements, including the pursuit of pure reason, strongly influenced areas bounded by the empire of Alexander the Great. Alexandria was the heart of the Hellenistic Age, hence the development of mathematical knowledge there could be readily hinged on the nourishing of classical Greek culture.

The same case applies to the knowledge in fields of the social sciences and humanities. Think of the knowledge of history. Just like the case with mathematics, people decided to program and create historical knowledge to meet their cultural needs to keep memories intact essentially. Hence, in this way, historical knowledge was connected with the root of culture. Studying and creating historical knowledge can also happen without considering cultural desire. People could produce history knowledge for the sake of it. When writing The History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides was not writing it for any cultural purpose. He was documenting the Peloponnesian War for the sole purpose of documentation. Generally, though, historical knowledge was still neatly tied with the culture of a group. The information in The History of the Peloponnesian War was strongly related to and stemmed from antiquity Greek culture, and the same rule applies to other forms of historical knowledge.

However, today and in the future, knowledge may no longer share a bond with culture. This can be primarily attributed to the advancement of the digital age and the change in human attitude towards the definition of knowledge and “culture”. Previously, people associated knowledge with culture because massive amounts of knowledge could only be produced by the human brain, which has also been responsible for the development of culture. Now, knowledge can also be compiled and even created by algorithms. In many fields of science, humankind increasingly relies on computers to create new knowledge in the short or long term. For instance, knowledge about space is gradually being pushed forward by computer models and AI. Although humans are still largely behind such operations, it can hardly be argued that the knowledge coming out of these operations is linked to human culture. Going back to the definition, a key part of human-based knowledge is “experience”. Computers do not and will not possess the same experience humans have to churn out knowledge linking to cultural ideas. In this sense, knowledge and culture will increasingly detach from each other. 

Following the logic above, from the perspective of human consciousness, in this digital age, humankind are prone to accept a novel definition of “knowledge” that has nothing to do with culture. Knowledge is turning from the “awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation” into simply the “familiarity of a fact or situation”. This perception of knowledge is additionally accelerating the trend of its detachment from human culture. Humankind is beginning to accept this reality and adapt to it.

It is too early to say anything conclusive about the future. Daunting challenges and exciting opportunities lay ahead. Concerning one of the challenges, humankind may be more firmly “enslaved” by algorithms. If people acknowledge that they do not have control over the creation and processing of new knowledge anymore, and that knowledge has nothing to do with human culture, then they are essentially giving in to AI. As explained in a previous article, human civilization is not designed and has not evolved to be able to counter this enslavement process effectively. More horrific consequences can occur once algorithms firmly grip civilization. In the past, knowledge was anchored to culture, so it was also the force that guided the development of culture. In the future, knowledge may not be anchored to culture anymore, so what force will guide the development of culture?

Given these challenges, opportunities are still extant. It is too conservative to announce the death penalty to human civilization. Even though it is a bold idea, human civilization has the choice to adapt to the digital age. All the arguments made above are based on the premise that human culture’s essence stays constant in the future. However, human culture may change as well, fitting novel trends. A portion of human interaction is already being moved online, which is why social media is a thing. If human interaction, a key part of cultural communication, can match the progression of the digital age, then other elements of human culture can do too. Once culture and knowledge are aligned again, the future may not be dystopian.

Overall, knowledge and culture were interconnected concepts in previous ages of civilization. But today and in times ahead, with changing rules and dynamics, these concepts may not be interlinked anymore. Knowledge is what holds the meaningful products of civilization, it is what links a culture. While it is exciting to think boldly about the future world, we must also grasp control in our hands, at least in the next several decades, when the determination and wisdom of humankind will be most relentlessly put to the test.

知识和文化之间的关系是什么？任何知识的发展都能独立于文化吗？由于知识和文化是人类文明不可缺少的组成部分，探究这样的问题具有核心意义。通过对过去的彻底挖掘和对未来的大胆展望，本文将论证，以前，知识与文化总体上是捆绑在一起的，但未来情况会发生巨大变化。 

在主要论证开始之前，有必要首先定义 "知识 "和 "文化 "这两个术语。"知识 "一词可以广义地定义为 "通过对某一事实或情况的经验而获得的认识或熟悉"，而 "文化 "是 "特定民族或社会的思想、习俗和社会行为"。

在过去，无论是数学、历史，还是其他任何知识领域，如果没有文化背景的鼓励和对该文化发展的进一步推动，对某一事物的理解就不可能发生。从数学开始，这是一门有着千年历史的基础科学。由于文化的需要，一些数学知识得到了发展。以古埃及人为例。他们的文化发展到一定程度使他们觉得建造金字塔来埋葬死去的贵族需是一种常态。金字塔的建造需要发明相当复杂的几何学，也需要古埃及数学家的工作来发现金字塔结构的特性。这个例子说明，过去的某些数学知识或多或少与文化的需求挂钩。

人们也确实可以在不觉得有文化刚需的情况下推动数学知识的发展。在这种情形中，数学知识以前还是与文化相联系的。例如，埃及的亚历山大城在公元前200年达到了它最繁荣的时期之一。有许多数学家在这个城市辉煌的图书馆里工作，但最引人注目的是埃拉托色尼，他用非常基本的定理和比率几乎正确地计算出了地球的圆周。他对数学知识的贡献，以及其他人的工作，不能说是为了满足特定的文化愿望。埃拉托色尼和他的其他数学家、医生、理论家可能是为了知识本身而推动数学的发展。然而，不能否认的是，这种知识与这一时期亚历山大城的希腊文化有关。事实上，希腊化时期指的是从公元前323年左右到公元前31年的一个时期，在此期间，希腊文化元素，包括对纯粹理性的追求，强烈影响了亚历山大大帝帝国与之后罗马帝国所辖的地区。亚历山大城是希腊化时代的中心，因此那里的数学知识的发展可以很容易地依靠于古典希腊文化的滋养。

同样的情况也适用于社会科学和人文科学领域的知识。想想历史知识。就像数学的情况一样，人们决定对历史知识进行编程和创造，以从根本上满足他们保持过去记忆的文化需求。因此，以这种方式，历史知识与一种文化的根相连。历史知识的研究和创造也可以在没有明确考虑文化欲望的情况下发生。人们可以为了产生历史知识而产生。修昔底德在写《伯罗奔尼撒战争史》时，并不是为了任何文化目的而写。他记录伯罗奔尼撒战争的唯一目的是为了纯粹的记录。不过，一般来说，历史知识仍然与一个群体的文化严谨地联系在一起。《伯罗奔尼撒战争史》中的信息与古代希腊文化密切相关，并源于古代希腊文化，这一规则也适用于其他形式的历史史实或记录。

然而，在今天和未来，知识可能不再与文化有联系。这主要归因于数字时代的进步以及人类对“知识”和 "文化 "定义的态度的改变。以前，人们将知识与文化联系在一起，是因为大量的知识只能由人脑产生，而人脑也对文化的发展负有责任。现在，知识也可以被编译，甚至由算法创造。在许多科学领域，人类越来越依赖计算机来创造新的知识，无论是短期的还是长期的。例如，关于太空的知识正逐渐被计算机模型和人工智能所推动。尽管人类在很大程度上仍然是这些操作的幕后推手，但很难说这些操作所产生的知识与人类文化有关。回到定义上，基于人类文化所创造的知识的一个关键部分是 "经验"。计算机没有，更不会拥有与人类相同的经验，来吸收创造与人类文化理念相关的知识。在这个意义上，知识和文化在未来将越来越相互脱离。 

按照上述逻辑，从人类意识的角度来看，在这个数字时代，人类很容易接受一种与文化无关的 "知识 "的新定义。知识正在从 "通过对某一事实或情况的经验获得的认识或熟悉 "变成简单的 "对某一事实或情况的熟悉"。这种对知识的认识还加速了知识与人类文化脱离的趋势。人类正在开始接受这个现实并适应它。

现在对未来给出明确结论还为时过早。艰巨的挑战和令人兴奋的机遇同时摆在面前。关于其中一个挑战，人类可能会更充分地被算法所 "奴役"。如果人们承认他们不再能控制新知识的创造和处理，而且知识与人类文化无关，那么他们本质上就是向人工智能屈服。正如之前的文章所解释的，人类文明的设计和进化并没有达到能够有效对抗这种奴役过程的程度。一旦算法牢牢控制住文明，更可怕的后果就会发生。在过去，知识被固定在文化上，所以它也是引导文化发展的力量。在未来，知识可能不再被固定在文化上，那么什么力量会引导文化的发展呢？

鉴于这些挑战，机会仍然存在。宣布对人类文明的死刑是过于保守的。尽管这是一个大胆的想法，但人类文明可以选择适应数字时代的发展。上述所有的论点都是建立在人类文化的本质在未来保持不变的前提下的。然而，人类文化也可能发生变化，适应新的趋势。人类互动的一部分已经被转移到网上，这就是为什么社交媒体如此流行。如果作为文化一个关键部分的人类互动能够与数字时代的进步相匹配，那么人类文化的其他元素也可能做到。一旦文化和知识再次统一起来，未来可能就不是像反乌托邦一般了。

总的来说，知识和文化在以前的文明时代是相互联系的概念。但在今天和未来的时代，随着规则和动力的变化，这些概念可能不再是相互联系的了。知识是承载文明的有意义的产品，它是连接文化的东西。虽然对未来世界进行大胆的思考是令人兴奋的，但我们也必须把控制权抓在手中，至少在未来的几十年里，人类的决心和智慧将受到最无情的考验。