“ (Traslated from
In her beautiful book
On her detail trip to discover the secrete of Vermeer, od the
Humboldt, a precursor of ecology, as near as the year 1800, understand how knowledge is a complex web of actors and how the actions of these actors influence the development of research. It is determined that the production of knowledge is linked to the social dimension and this author showed it when he influenced not only scientists such as Darwin and Haeckel Muir, but thinkers as Thoreau and poets of the dimension of Goethe, and among all, when he inspired figures that transformed histories such as Simon Bolivar and Thomas Jefferson (
These beautiful books show how since more than 400 years ago, these scientists and artists understand how the dynamics of production, communication, formation, innovation and management of knowledge are consolidated as complex dynamic networks. An “ecosystems of knowledge” in which researchers end up immersed in diverse structures (systems of financing, training, visibility and diffusion) and actors (editors, reviewers, managers, students, directives and technocrats).
The interactions between actors and structures often happened between strong asymmetries of knowledge, formation and interests that, by fortune or misfortune, can consolidate or paralyze the research processes. When research, as in the case of Colombia, is deeply linked to the University, researchers are subjugated to directions related to other substantives functions such as formation, at the same time that the services and directions of the institutions are permanently looking to produce conditions to generate excellence indicators.
Additionally, researchers are under pressures linked to socioemotional relations, as reflected on the intra and intergroup dynamics of the communities, since they are permanently under the influences that come out from them.
On the other hand, these academics are subdued to the permanent changes of the national systems of assessment of science and technology that respond to the political, financial, legal and even ideological dynamics of the transitions of government.
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Nonetheless, history seems to show that we can find on these exceptional academia characters models and that we can produce transformations in the middle of the mention difficulties if the passion for the search of knowledge and for contribute to our world becomes missional.
“ Goethe about Humbolt (