Mediation has a fundamental role in the development of complex societies, since it interferes consciously or unconsciously in the way the subjects interact with and appropriate information. There are similarities between the theory of complexity and the conception of information adopted in this chapter; they are uncertainty and disorder. Both complexity and information are intertwined with these factors. Information, much more than satisfying a need or filling an information gap, raises new doubts and generates new information conflicts. The information mediation, in turn, seeks, among other purposes, to resolve such conflicts and aims for the subject to appropriate the information. Therefore, mediation needs a more complex and holistic discussion, considering the different factors and elements linked and resulting from it.
TopIntroduction
Information mediation is a subfield of Information Science (IS) which has been discussed for over 15 years in Brazil. Because it is considered an interdisciplinary area, IS dialogues with different fields of knowledge and, therefore, provides mediation researchers with multiple theoretical approaches from different disciplines, such as Librarianship, Documentation, Psychology, Communication, Education, Law, among others. In addition, the interdisciplinary movement that occurs within IS is also highlighted, that is, when the disciplines that constitute it work in an integrated manner.
The idea of interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary or multidisciplinary, although constantly emphasized, can be analyzed from the very conception of knowledge. It starts with the idea that knowledge is unique and its segmentation occurs for study, analysis and reflection. The fragmentation of knowledge into various fields, which occurred historically, led to a fragmented thinking of knowledge and science. There are current proposals seeking, despite the maintenance of specializations, a closeness, a dialogue, a greater conversation between these segments. An example is the increase in accepting the holistic conception in studies and research, aiming at a more general and broad view of the actions that took place in the internal scope of the fragmentation of human knowledge. What is to be said is that considering knowledge as a unit, interdisciplinary, even if not visible, is present at the heart of all the segments in which this knowledge was divided to be properly, or at least, better studied.
In addition to being interdisciplinary, as Wersig (1983) and Araújo (2014) point out, IS is considered a social and postmodern science. Santos Neto, Santos, Teles & Valentim (2017) highlight that this identification of IS can be underpinned by the Theory of Complexity (TC), proposed by Morin (2005), who discusses social phenomena from a holistic thinking and from systemic theories. It is worth noting that the idea of postmodernity is not a consensus; some authors understand that we still live under the aegis of modernity, which calls into question the claim that IS is a postmodern science. It is not up to us to develop this discussion, nor is it the right time, as this would demand and require the identification of characteristics that determine this stance. However, it is necessary to advise to the existence of this controversy.
These disciplinary relations occur, most likely, at the moment when the areas/disciplines recognize that, when isolated, they do not advance significantly without the contribution of the other. Thus, recognizing in one area the potential for dialogue and contribution to the advancement of another, characterizes no longer an isolated action, based on Cartesianism; but, a humble, plural and complex action, that is, the unfinished is recognized.
For this reason, this chapter discusses the role of information mediation in the development of complex societies from the perspective of the TC, which recognizes that just as the parts constitute the whole, when analyzing the whole the parts must also be considered and recognized. Varela & Barbosa (2009), when discussing the relationship between the whole vs. the part, emphasize that there is a “…dialogue/interaction of order and disorder in the world, weaving the parts and the whole, the whole and the parts and the parts among themselves” (p. 197).
Morin (2005), from the work Introduction to complex thought, presents this “new” way of thinking and states that the TC carries different elements, such as confusion, uncertainty and disorder. In this perspective, it is impossible to alienate from the context, the environment and society; the facts never happen in isolation, and these in turn, do not happen by chance. It is noteworthy that complexity is not synonymous with completeness, as it recognizes the unfinished and the impossibility of any complete knowledge; but from this perspective, the simplicity with which phenomena are observed and analyzed is eliminated. In complex thinking, in addition to the parts constituting the whole, the whole recognizes that it is constituted by the parts, which, in turn, are involved in other parts. As an example of this thought, Morin (2005) emphasizes that a tree is not only composed of roots, stems, leaves and fruit, because it also needs sunlight, air, land, etc.