Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society (한국도서관정보학회지)

Korean Library and Information Science Society (한국도서관정보학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

The Problems of Information, Knowledge, and Truth: An Epistemological Thought Experiment with Implications for Information Literacy in the Era of Post-Truth

정보, 지식, 그리고 진실의 문제들: 탈진실 시대에 정보문해력에 관한 인식론적인 사고 실험과 함의

  • Received : 2020.11.27
  • Accepted : 2020.12.14
  • Published : 2020.12.30
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

People collectively understand and often use information and knowledge as terms in a variety of contexts without concern nor discussion of their many competing conceptual and theoretical definitions. The concepts of information and knowledge are intrinsically linked and suffer some of the same problems when scholars try to define them, especially when truth is a prerequisite. This theory paper presents a simple thought experiment that relates the reliabilist and truth-tracking analyses of knowledge with the physical and cognitive paradigms of information, respectively. The results of the thought experiment are discussed within the context of the Post-Truth era, with implications and applications for information literacy.

인간은 정보와 지식이라는 용어를 집단적으로 이해하며, 서로 배치되는 개념적이고 이론적인 정의에 대해 주의하지도 토론하지도 않은 채, 다양한 맥락에서 두 가지 용어를 자주 사용한다. 정보와 지식이라는 개념은 내재적으로 서로 연결되어 있으며, 특히 진실이 전제조건이 되어야 할 때, 정보와 지식을 정확하게 정의하는 것은 쉽지 않다. 본 이론 논문에서는 지식에 관한 신빙주의 분석(reliabilist analysis)과 진실추적분석(truth-tracking analysis)을 각각 정보의 물리적인 패러다임과 인지적인 패러다임과 연결시키는 사고 실험을 전개한다. 이 사고 실험의 결과는 특히 탈진실의 시대적 맥락에서 정보문해력을 위한 적용과 함의를 중심으로 논의된다.

Keywords

References

  1. Accardi, M. T., E. E. Drabinski, and A. A. Kumbier (eds). 2010. Critical Library Instruction: Theories and Methods. Sacramento, CA: Library Juice.
  2. Ackoff, R. L. 1989. "From Data to Wisdom." Journal of Applied Systems Analysis, 16(1): 3-9.
  3. Apuke, O. D. and B. Omar. 2020. "Fake News and COVID-19: Modelling the Predictors of Fake News Sharing Among Social Media Users." Telematics and Informatics, 101475 (In Press). .
  4. Ashton, N. A. et al. 2020. Social Epistemology and Relativism. New York: Routledge.
  5. Association of College & Research Libraries. 2016. Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Chicago: Association of College & Research Libraries.
  6. Baer, A. 2018. "It's All Relative? Post-Truth Rhetoric, Relativism, and Teaching on "Authority as Constructed and Contextual." College and Research Libraries News, 79(2): 72-97. https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.79.2.72
  7. Bates, M. J. 1999. "The Invisible Substrate of Information Science." Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 50(12): 1043-1050. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(1999)50:12<1043::AID-ASI1>3.0.CO;2-X
  8. Bates, M. J. 2005. "Information and Knowledge: An Evolutionary Framework for Information Science." Information Research, 10(4). [cited 2020. 11. 20].
  9. Bates, M. J. 2006. "Fundamental Forms of Information." Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 57(8): 1033-1045. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.20369
  10. Bates, M. J. 2010. "Information." In M. J. Bates and M. N. Maack (eds.), Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences (3rd ed.). (pp. 2347-2360). New York: CRC Press.
  11. Belkin, N. J. 1980. "Anomalous States of Knowledge as a Basis for Information Retrieval." Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science, 5: 133-143.
  12. Bradshaw, S. and P. N. Howard. 2018. "Challenging Truth and Trust: A Global Inventory of Organized Social Media Manipulation." Comprop.Oii.Ox.Ac.Uk: 26. [cited 2020. 11. 20].
  13. Brooks, B. C. 1979. "Bradford Law: A New Calculus for the Social Sciences?" Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 30(4): 233-234. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.4630300412
  14. Brown, J. R. and Y. Fehige. 2019. "Thought Experiments." In E. N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. . [cited 2020. 11. 20].
  15. Buckland, M. K. 1991. "Information as Thing." Journal of the American Society of Information Science, 42(5): 351-360. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(199106)42:5<351::AID-ASI5>3.0.CO;2-3
  16. Budd, J. M. 2001. Knowledge and Knowing in Library and Information Science: A Philosophical Framework. Lanham: The Scarecrow Press.
  17. Budd, J. M. 2005. "Phenomenology and Information Studies." Journal of Documentation, 16(1): 44-59. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220410510578005
  18. Budd, J. M. 2011. "Meaning, Truth, and Information: Prolegomena to a Theory." Journal of Documentation, 67(1): 56-74. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220411111105452
  19. Burnett, G. 2015. "Information Worlds and Interpretive Practices: Toward an Integration of Domains." Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice, 3(3): 6-16. https://doi.org/10.1633/JISTaP.2015.3.3.1
  20. Bush, V. 1945. "As We May Think." Atlantic Monthly, 101-108.
  21. Butkovic, A. 2007. "What is the Function of Thought Experiments: Kuhn vs. Brown." Croation Journal of Philosophy, 7(19): 63-66.
  22. Chalmers, A. F. 1999. What is this Thing Called Science? (3rd ed.). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.
  23. Cleverdon, C. W. 1972. "On the Inverse Relationship of Recall and Precision." Journal of Documentation, 28: 195-201. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb026538
  24. Cooke, N. A. 2017. "Posttruth, Truthiness, and Alternative Facts: Information Behavior and Critical Information Consumption for a New Age." Library Quarterly, 87(3): 211-221. https://doi.org/10.1086/692298
  25. Cooke, N. A. 2018a. "Critical Literacy as an Approach to Combating Cultural Misinformation/Disinformation on the Internet." In Denise Agosto (ed.), Information Literacy and Libraries in the Age of Fake News. Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited.
  26. Cooke, N. A. 2018b. Fake News and Alternative Facts: Information Literacy in a Post-Truth Era. Chicago: American Library Association, 2018.
  27. Cooper, R. 2005. "Thought Experiments." Metaphilosophy, 36(3): 328-347. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9973.2005.00372.x
  28. Craft, S., S. Ashley, and A. Maksl. 2017. "News Media Literacy and Conspiracy Theory Endorsement." Communication and the Public, 2(4): 388-401. https://doi.org/10.1177/2057047317725539
  29. Day, R. E. 2001. The Modern Invention of Information. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
  30. Derr, R. L. 1985. "The Concept of Information in Ordinary Discourse." Information Processing & Management, 21(6): 489-499. https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-4573(85)90003-2
  31. Dervin, B. 1977. "Useful Theory for Librarianship: Communication Not Information." Drexel Library Quarterly, 13(3): 351-360.
  32. Dervin, B. 1999. "Chaos, Order, and Sense-Making: A Proposed Theory for Information Design." In R. Jacobson (Ed.), Information Design (pp. 35-57). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  33. Dervin, B. and M. Frenette. 2003. "Sense-Making Methodology: Communicating Communicatively with Campaign Audiences." In B. Dervin & L. Foreman-Wernet (eds.), Sense-Making Methodology Reader. Selected Writings of Brenda Dervin (pp. 233-249). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
  34. Dodig Crnkovic, G. and W. Hofkirchner. 2011. "Floridi's "Open Problems in Philosophy of Information", Ten Years Later." Information, 2(2): 327-359. https://doi.org/10.3390/info2020327
  35. Dretske, F. 1981. Knowledge and the Flow of Information. Cambridge: MIT Press.
  36. Dretske, F. 2005. "Is Knowledge Closed Under Known Entailment? The Case against Closure." In M. Steup, and E. Sosa (eds.), Contemporary Debates in Epistemology. Malden: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
  37. Eisenberg, M. B., C. A. Lowe, and K. L. Spitzer. 2004. Information Literacy: Essential Skills for the Information Age. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
  38. Ellis, D. 1992. "The Physical and Cognitive Paradigms in Information Retrieval Research." Journal of Documentation, 48(1): 45-64. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb026889
  39. Elmborg, J. 2006. "Critical Information Literacy: Implications for Instructional Practice." Journal of Academic Librarianship, 32 (2): 192-199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2005.12.004
  40. Flierl, M. 2017. "Information Literacy and Learning in Higher Education: A Thought Experiment." In European Conference on Information Literacy (pp. 625-633). Champaign: Springer.
  41. Floridi, L. 2002. "What is the Philosophy of Information?" Metaphilosophy, 33(1/2): 123-145. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9973.00221
  42. Floridi, L. 2004a. "Outline of a Theory of Strongly Semantic Information." Minds and Machines, 14(2): 197-221. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:MIND.0000021684.50925.c9
  43. Floridi, L. 2004b. "Open Problems in the Philosophy of Information." Metaphilosophy, 35(4): 554-582. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9973.2004.00336.x
  44. Floridi, L. 2008. "Trends in the Philosophy of Information." In P. Adriaans and J. van Benthem (eds.), Philosophy of Information, 8 (pp. 113-131). New York: Elsevier.
  45. Fox, C. 1983. Information and Misinformation. An Investigation of the Notions of Information, Misinformation, Informing, and Misinforming. Westport: Greenwood Press.
  46. Frohmann, B. 2004. Deflating Information: From Science Studies to Documentation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  47. Galili, I. 2007. "Thought Experiments: Determining Their Meaning." Science & Education, 18: 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-007-9124-4
  48. Gettier, E. L. 1963. "Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?" Analysis, 23(6): 121-123. https://doi.org/10.1093/analys/23.6.121
  49. Goldman, A. and B. Beddor. 2016. "Reliabilist Epistemology." In E. N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. [cited 2020. 11. 20].
  50. Goldman, A. I. 1975. "Innate Knowledge." In S. P. Stich (ed.), Innate Ideas. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
  51. Goldman, A. I. 1979. "What Is Justified Belief?" In G. Pappas (ed.), Justification and Knowledge. Dordrecht: Reidel.
  52. Golman, R., D. Hagmann, and G. Loewenstein. 2017. "Information Avoidance." Journal of Economic Literature, 55(1): 96-135. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20151245
  53. Gross, M. 2005. "The Impact of Low-Level Skills on Information-Seeking Behavior: Implications of Competency Theory for Research and Practice." Reference & User Services Quarterly, 45(2): 155-162.
  54. Gross, M. and D. Latham. 2012. "What's Skill Got to Do with It? Information Literacy Skills and Self-Views of Ability among First-Year College Students." Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 63(3): 574-583. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21681
  55. Harley, B. 2001. "Freshmen, Information Literacy, Critical Thinking and Values." Reference Services Review, 29(4): 301-306. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000006492
  56. Hjorland, B. 2000. "Library and Information Science: Practice, Theory, and Philosophical Basis." Information Processing & Management, 36(1): 501-531. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-4573(99)00038-2
  57. Hjorland, B. 2002. "Domain Analysis in Information Science: Eleven Approaches-Traditional as well as Innovative." Journal of Documentation, 58(4): 422-462. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220410210431136
  58. Hollister, J. M. et al. 2020. "Potential Implications and Applications of Terror Management Theory for Library and Information Science." Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science, 54(4): 317-349. https://doi.org/10.4275/KSLIS.2020.54.4.317
  59. Horowitz, T. and G. J. Massey. (eds.). 1991. Thought Experiments in Science and Philosophy. Savage: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
  60. Hutchinson, E. 2020, November 20. "School Librarians Want Bigger Role in Information Literacy and Fighting Fake News." Teaching Times. < https://www.teachingtimes.com/school-librarians-are-frustrated-about-unrecognised-role-in-information-literacy-and-fighting-fake-news/> [cited 2020. 11. 20].
  61. Ichikawa, J. J. and M. Steup. 2018. "The Analysis of Knowledge." In E. N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. [cited 2020. 11. 20].
  62. Jacobson, T. E. and T. P. Mackey. 2013. "Proposing a Metaliteracy Model to Redefine Information Literacy." Communications in Information Literacy, 7(2): 84-91. https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2013.7.2.138
  63. Jones, K. S. 1981. "The Cranfield Tests." In K. S. Jones (ed.), Information Retrieval Experiment. London: Butterworths.
  64. Julien, H. 2016. "Beyond the Hyperbole: Information Literacy Reconsidered." Communications in Information Literacy, 10(2): 1124-131. https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2016.10.2.28
  65. Julien, H. and K. Williamson. 2011. "Discourse and Practice in Information Literacy and Information Seeking: Gaps and Opportunities." Information Research, 16(1). [cited 2020. 11. 20].
  66. Karlova, N. and J. H. Lee. 2011. "Notes from the Underground City of Disinformation: A Conceptual Investigation." Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 48(1): 1-9.
  67. Klenk, V. 2008. Understanding Symbolic Logic (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.
  68. Kuhlthau, C. C. 1987. Information Skills for an Information Society: A Review of Research. Report ED297740. Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Resources.
  69. Kuhlthau, C. C. 1993. "Principle of Uncertainty for Information Seeking." Journal of Documentation, 49(4), 339-355. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb026918
  70. Kuhn, T. 1964. "A Function for Thought Experiments." In The Essential Tension: Selected Studies in Scientific Tradition and Change (pp. 240-265). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  71. Kuhn, T. 1970. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  72. Lewandowsky, S., U. K. H. Ecker, and J. Cook. 2017. "Beyond Misinformation: Understanding and Coping with the "Post-Truth" Era." Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 6: 353-369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2017.07.008
  73. Lingard, R. G. 2013. "Information, Truth and Meaning: A Response to Budd's Prolegomena." Journal of Documentation, 69(4): 481-499. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-01-2012-0010
  74. Ludwig, K. 2007. "The Epistemology of Thought Experiments: First Person versus Third Person Approaches." Midwest Studies in Philosophy, 31: 128-159. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4975.2007.00160.x
  75. Mac Kay, D. M. 1969. Information, Mechanism, and Meaning. Cambridge: MIT Press.
  76. Mackey, T. P. and T. E. Jacobson. 2014. Metaliteracy: Reinventing Information Literacy to Empower Learners. Chicago: American Library Association.
  77. Markey, K. 2015. Online Searching: A Guide to Finding Quality Information Efficiently and Effectively. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
  78. Marsh, E. J. and B. W. Yang. 2017. "A Call to Think Broadly about Information Literacy." Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 6: 401-404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2017.09.012
  79. Martin, C. and C. Steinkuehler. 2010. "Collective Information Literacy in Massively Multiplayer Online Games." E-Learning and Digital Media, 7(4): 355-365. https://doi.org/10.2304/elea.2010.7.4.355
  80. Mery, Y., J. Newby, and K. Peng. 2012. "Why One-Shot Information Literacy Sessions are Not the Future of Instruction: A Case for Online Credit Courses." College & Research Libraries, 73(4): 366-377. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl-271
  81. Moue, A. A., K. A. Masavetas, and H. Karayianni. 2006. "Tracing the Development of Thought Experiments in the Philosophy of Science." Journal of General Philosophy of Science, 37: 61-75. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10838-006-8906-8
  82. Munger, M. C. 2008. "Blogging and Political Information: Truth of Truthiness?" Public Choice, 134: 125-138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-007-9205-6
  83. Murrock, E. et al. 2018. "Winning the War on State-Sponsored Propaganda: Results from an Impact Study of a Ukrainian News Media and Information Literacy Program." Journal of Media Literacy Education, 10(2): 53-85. https://doi.org/10.23860/JMLE-2018-10-2-4
  84. Nickerson, R. S. 1998. "Confirmation Bias: A Ubiquitous Phenomenon in Many Guises." Review of General Psychology, 2(2): 175-220. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.2.2.175
  85. Norton, J. D. 1996. "Are Thought Experiments Just What You Thought?" Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 26(3): 333-366. https://doi.org/10.1080/00455091.1996.10717457
  86. Nozick, R. 1981. Philosophical Explanations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  87. Pettigrew, K. E. and L. E. F. McKechnie. 2001. "The Use of Theory in Information Research." Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 52(1): 62-73. https://doi.org/10.1002/1532-2890(2000)52:1<62::AID-ASI1061>3.0.CO;2-J
  88. Pew Research Center. 2020. "Republicans, Democrats Move Even Further Apart in Coronavirus Concerns [Report]." [cited 2020. 11. 18].
  89. Poulakidakos, S., A. Veneti, and C. Fangonikolopoulos. 2018. "Post-Truth, Propaganda and the Transformation of the Spiral of Silence." International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, 14(3): 367-382. https://doi.org/10.1386/macp.14.3.367_1
  90. Pratt, A. D. 1977. "The Information of the Image: A Model of the Communications Process." Libri, 27(3): 204-220. https://doi.org/10.1515/libr.1977.27.1.204
  91. Raber, D. 2003. The Problem of Information: An Introduction to Information Science. Lanham: Scarecrow Press.
  92. Rosman, T. et al. 2016. "Conceptions of Scientific Knowledge Influence Learning of Academic Skills: Epistemic Beliefs and the Efficacy of Information Literacy Instruction." Studies in Higher Education, 43(1): 96-113. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2016.1156666
  93. Rysiew, P. 2020. "Epistemic Contextualism." In E. N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. [cited 2020. 11. 20].
  94. Salgado, S. 2018. "Online Media Impact on Politics. Views on Post-Truth Politics and Post-Postmodernism." International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, 14(3): 317-331. https://doi.org/10.1386/macp.14.3.317_1
  95. Saunders, L., J. Severyn, and J. Caron. 2017. "Don't They Teach That in High School? Examining the High School to College Information Literacy Gap." Library and Information Science Research, 39: 276-283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2017.11.006
  96. Schreider, Y. A. 1970. "On the Semantic Characteristics of Information." In T. Saracevic (ed.), Introduction to Information Science (pp. 24-32). Bowker: New York.
  97. Shannon, C. E. 1948. "A Mathematical Theory of Communication." Bell System Technical Journal, 27(3): 379-423. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1538-7305.1948.tb01338.x
  98. Shpeizer, R. 2018. "Teaching Critical Thinking as a Vehicle for Personal and Social Transformation." Research in Education, 100(1): 32-49. https://doi.org/10.1177/0034523718762176
  99. Smith, L. 2013. "Towards a Model of Critical Information Literacy Instruction for the Development of Political Agency." Journal of Information Literacy, 7(2): 15-32. https://doi.org/10.11645/7.2.1809
  100. Smith, L. 2014. "Young People's Critical Information Literacy and Political Agency." In The Second European Conference on Information Literacy (ECIL), 57.
  101. Stephens, A. L. and J. J. Clement. 2012. "The Role of Thought Experiments in Science and Science Learning. In B. J. Fraser et al. (eds.), Second International Handbook of Science Education (pp. 157-175). Dordrecht: Springer.
  102. Steup, M. and E. Sosa. 2005. Contemporary Debates in Epistemology. Malden: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
  103. Steup, M. and R. Neta. 2020. "Epistemology." In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. [cited 2020. 11. 20].
  104. Stuart, M. T., Y. Fehige, and J. R. Brown. 2018. The Routledge Companion to Thought Experiments. New York: Routledge.
  105. Tewell, E. 2015. "A Decade of Critical Information Literacy: A Review of the Literature." Communications in Information Literacy, 9(1): 24-43. https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2015.9.1.174
  106. Thompson, G. 2003. Bacon to Kant: An Introduction to Modern Philosophy (2nd ed.). Long Grove: Waveland Press, Inc.
  107. Tully, M., E. K. Vraga, and L. Bode. 2020. "Designing and Testing News Literacy Messages for Social Media." Mass Communication and Society, 23(1): 22-46. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2019.1604970
  108. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. 2013. Global Media and Information Literacy Assessment Framework: Country Readiness and Competencies. Paris: UNESCO.
  109. Wallace, D. P. 2007. Knowledge Management: Historical and Cross-Disciplinary Themes. Westport: Libraries Unlimited.
  110. Weiner, J. M. 2011. "Is There a Difference Between Critical Thinking and Information Literacy?" Journal of Information Literacy, 5(2): 81-92. https://doi.org/10.11645/5.2.1600
  111. Wiener, N. 1961. Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. Cambridge: MIT Press.
  112. Zarocostas, J. 2020. "How to Fight an Infodemic." The Lancet, 395(10225): 676. .