Who produces knowledge, how do they produce it? Where does knowledge come from? What are the conditions for generating knowledge? Under what conditions is knowledge production possible? What is the difference between societies that produce knowledge and those that do not? Why does humanity need to produce knowledge? How have societies that do not prioritize knowledge production come to be in this state?
When you study Ottoman history (or I think it's applicable to Eastern societies as well), you see something. These lands haven't sought to know. They haven't felt the need for knowledge. They haven't valued knowing. Regardless of which aspect of backwardness we consider, this seems to be the main difference I observe. In other words, whether it's economic, military, or technological, the root cause of the West outpacing the East to such an extent lies in this situation. "The West has desired knowledge, the East has not."
If humans are naturally curious and questioning beings, then they shouldn't have geographical boundaries. In other words, in a place where there is a curious species of humans, there can't be another place with uncurious individuals. Perhaps the real distinction lies between those who continue to be curious and those whose curiosity has died out. Indeed, a person who already knows (or thinks they know) doesn't feel the need to learn something new. This situation likely underlies why people with a religious perspective may not feel the need to know.
The need for learning or knowing also finds its place in Maslow's hierarchy of needs pyramid, I believe. That is, in order to survive and live a higher quality life, we need to know. We must make sense of the events that happen to us and the events we observe around us. It all starts with asking questions. When we ask why and how things happen, we are compelled to find answers. If you are born into a culture that discourages asking questions, you become a person who doesn't want to know, who isn't curious. If you can continue the process of curiosity starting from the most basic needs and continue it to the end, the point you reach is where you find the answers that make your life meaningful.
Investigating the origins of a society's view on knowledge is quite intriguing. Why does one society value knowledge while another does not? Clearly, each society has its own traditions, cultural capital, and religious beliefs. So, behind the worldview of a society, there is a "problem of perspective."
The fundamental question and problem are this: where do the foods you eat to satisfy your hunger come from?; how are these foods grown or produced? When the answer you give to such questions is "Allah has created these blessings for humans," the conversation ends. Or when a earthquake occurs that jeopardizes your life by disrupting your sense of security, and you ask why this happened, and the answer you get is "Allah is punishing his servants," the conversation ends. Or when you want to be loved and seek people who will love you and with whom you can communicate, but you can't get along, and you constantly witness brutality, death around you, and you want to make sense of it, and you create the Tower of Babel myth as an answer, and the conversation ends. These examples can be multiplied. It seems that the real issue is this: as humanity, we wanted to know, understand, and solve, and with the abilities, accumulations, and capitals we possessed, we invented some answers. I especially say invented because the things we found as answers had no basis. This is how we have come to this critical point between the West and the East.
INVENTED KNOWLEDGE
We went through a phase where we made up stories to satisfy our need to know. This phase constitutes a significant portion of the distance we have come throughout human history. Only in the last 2,500 years of the 300,000-year history of humanity have we managed to invent what we call science. When we consider the history of science, the first name mentioned is Thales of Miletus, who lived around 600 BC. The science he practiced was not what we understand as science today, but he also tried to provide answers to the questions we ask today with the perspective we give to those questions today. Instead of making up stories as answers to his questions, he tried to reason. He realized that behind the events in nature, there might not be gods but rather material causes.
This is the crux of the matter: the satisfaction of the desire to know. The story of wanting to know has ended in Eastern societies. They have finished the business of knowing because they find convincing the idea of considering what someone else made up as knowledge. After all, what could there be behind what they already think they know? The answer they ultimately give to every question they ask is clear: God knows. They think, "If God knows, then I don't need to know." Meanwhile, the West has somehow emerged from this dilemma. It achieved this through reforms and the Renaissance starting from the 1500s. It said stop to the "religion" that claimed to provide answers to what it was curious about. It said your answers are not true, and the process began.
Knowing is like an avalanche; once it starts, it's impossible to stop. After all, what does Moore's Law say: "knowledge grows exponentially." If today I have 100 units of knowledge, it means tomorrow I will have 200, the next day 400, and the following day 800 units of knowledge.
The missed opportunity of the Ottoman Empire and other Eastern societies is precisely this. The Western adventure of knowledge that began in the 1500s has made them the masters of the world today. Because the more they knew, the more doors they opened to knowing new things. Once they discovered that they could find "true" answers to their questions, this power intoxicated them. Because they were doing something very enjoyable. If you wondered about something, you would find the underlying cause by researching it. Wondered why lightning strikes? You found electricity. Wondered why earthquakes occur? You found out about the Earth's core and how the Earth's crust floats on a liquid layer; wondered why an apple falls to the ground? You found gravity. In other words, thanks to science, you could find the answers to what you wondered about.
Now, as we start this article, we can provide the answers to the questions I asked:
Who produces knowledge, how do they produce it?: Those who wonder produce it, they produce it by researching.
Who doesn't produce knowledge?: Those who already think they know don't produce it. They don't feel the need to research what they already think they know.
Where does knowledge come from?: It comes from the study and questioning of nature. It doesn't come from gods, spirits, fairy tales, legends, or mythological heroes.
Conditions for generating knowledge: Knowledge is produced in environments where there is no fear of asking questions. Knowledge is generated in places where there are no prejudices and where people are not stuck in dogmas. Generating knowledge requires courage. Generating knowledge requires motivation to find out what the truth really is.
Difference between societies that produce knowledge and those that do not: Societies that produce knowledge are aware of what they don't know. They are societies that seek to understand life. In societies where people are unaware of what they don't know and view fabricated things as knowledge, there is no motivation to produce new knowledge. If you accept what is given to you without questioning, you cannot reach new knowledge. If you accept life as it is imposed on you, you cannot experience new things. The difference in mindset between the West and the East shows traces here.
Why does humanity need to produce knowledge?: Curiosity is inherent in human nature. Unless the sense of curiosity is suppressed from outside, every person wants to explore. A person who is not satisfied with what they have demands more. Thanks to this impulse, we have been able to survive. This has enabled us to discover new places and find new sources of food. If we were a species that only made do with the conditions we were in, we wouldn't be able to adapt to the changing conditions of nature. In other words, nature is constantly changing, and as we adapt to this change, we inevitably have to learn new things. Societies that do not need to produce new knowledge are doomed to lag behind compared to those who fulfill this need.
How have societies that do not prioritize knowledge production come to be in this state?: Those who have once tasted the pleasure of acquiring knowledge do not want to be deprived of this pleasure. Learning new things is akin to satisfying hunger. Just as we experience immense pleasure when we eat something after being hungry for a long time, the joy of knowing is similar. As long as a person recognizes this pleasure, knows this pleasure, they don't have any problem with the absence of knowledge. A person who has never eaten sugar throughout their life does not know how enjoyable sugar is. Therefore, they don't miss sugar. Those who do not know how enjoyable knowledge is, how satisfying it is to know, cannot have such a concern. If the culture into which a person is born associates learning new things with sin; if the fear of going to hell is ingrained into people's minds; if questioning and seeking the truth are considered bad, then the fear of knowing and demonizing knowledge becomes inevitable for such people. In short, this is a kind of cultural heritage.
LAST WORDS
What a pity for those deprived of the ability to distinguish between invented knowledge and real knowledge. As conscious beings aware of our impending demise, we have sought ways to cope with this knowledge. "The knowledge of death" is the most scorching among the things we know. Knowing that we will die and being unable to prevent it distorts our perception and leads us astray. We look at the stories we have invented to normalize this knowledge with a semblance of reality. We don't want to die, and we seek ways to escape death.
Our ancestors, who lived tens of thousands of years ago, found some methods to overcome the fear of death. Notice that I am talking about the religious journey that began some 30-40 thousand years ago. We still consider the knowledge (invented stories) they produced with their knowledge level at that time to be valid.
To explain the stillness of a stone juxtaposed with the motion of a mouse, we invented knowledge. Since one thing moves while the other does not, we reasoned that there must be a mystery in the motion of the moving thing. We invented a "spirit" that causes the motion. (They call this animism.) This spirit leaves our bodies when we die, that is, when we transition from a state of movement to stillness. Despite thousands of years passing after such simple reasoning, we still believe in this absurd knowledge. Religion didn't remain as a simple structure; it evolved along with humans, but its method didn't change. We continued to invent stories with our imagination for things we couldn't understand.
Those who seek knowledge should not fear it. If knowledge is coded (perceived) as scary once, people will do anything not to know. People fear what they don't know, and they don't want to see what they fear. People fear death and want to distance themselves from it. Therefore, they even dare to distort reality. This is how the door opens to seeing non-existent things as if they were real.
What is necessary for humans to continue their journey despite their fear? It is necessary to face real pain, even if it's difficult. For this, one needs to be brave. For this, one needs to grow. Children fear the dark because they don't know what's in it. But when you become an adult, you see that there's nothing to fear. Those who are afraid of knowledge need to realize that they are still children and decide to become adults. Otherwise, continuing to live without knowing becomes inevitable. Living a painful truth is better than living a fabricated lie.
History and our present show us the difference between the knowledgeable and the ignorant. First of all, just admit to yourself that the one imposed on you is not the only alternative. Isn't it naive to think that this is the only alternative to life just because you came across this place in the cultural lottery?
Religion; Reality; Science
Inquiry
Death
Curiosity
Knowledge Production
Who produces knowledge
Where does knowledge come from
Desire to know
Need
Fabrication
Invented Knowledge
Thales
Cultural Lottery