A TRUSTING CONSTRUCTIVIST VIEW OF SYSTEMS THINKING IN THE KNOWLEDGE AGE

摘要

I have made a case in this paper for our reconsidering the way in which we define our knowing endeavors in the so-called knowledge age, rather than submitting to cultural pressures to define knowledge as representation of externally existing realities. I have suggested that our ways of defining the status of knowledge-constructions have implications not only for how we "know" but also for how we live. (See also Romm, 2001, pp. 96-97.) I propose that in practice if one applies expectations of discursive accountability in the process of assessing others' way of defending visions and actions, then one desists from applying pressure on people to try to defend their decision-making with reference to an informed understanding of "the realities". One can then appreciate that people might be oriented to developing what Weil calls "responsible pathways through multiple realities" (1998, p. 44) through their engaging seriously with alternative visions and concerns that might be presented. I have suggested that realist-oriented ways of conceiving our knowing endeavors as striving to enable us to get closer to "the truth" about reality, may mitigate against the development of processes of trust earning and trust awarding in the terms in which I have explored (or rather outlined) in this paper.