试论信息生态学的边界及未来

Boundary and Future of Information Ecology

随着信息社会的到来,人们发现信息不仅仅是一种物理现象,而且本身也具有有机性、整体性与复杂性的特点。信息的传播必须借助于能量或者载体,包括自然环境、社会环境以及人类思维。信息生态学继承了人类生态学、城市生态学、污染生态学等应用生态学的学科方法,并借助信息生态系统来调适“人-媒介-环境”之间的关系。信息科学与传播学虽然有各自的学科属性,但是在概念使用、研究方法、范围选择上存在广泛共识。我们倾向于将“信息”看成一个整体,信息科学偏向系统规律与运行机理,而传播学更擅长社会分析与价值判断。由于信息生态学整体属于“人类”的范畴,所以主要参照人类生态学的研究思路,在人与环境平衡的背景下,实现信息生态系统的和谐。同时,信息生态学具有强烈的人文主义色彩,尤其受到社会学、传播学、伦理学的影响,从而成为一门具有创新精神与批判意识的新兴交叉学科。然而,就其自身而言,信息生态学的学科体系并不完善,研究方法也不够独立。因此,需要对其历史边界与学科特征进行梳理,以期在未来的学科发展与建设中实现新跨越。

With the coming of the information society,it has been found that information is not merely a physical phenomenon but also has features of organism,integrity,and complexity. The communication of information relies on energy or vehicles,including natural environment,social environment,and human mind.Information ecology inherits the discipline approaches of applied ecology,such as human ecology,urban ecology,and pollution ecology;it adapts the relationships among human,medium and environmen with the help of information ecosystem. Despite their distinctive disciplinary attributes,information science and communication science have much in common in terms of conception,research methods,and scoping. We tend to view“information”as a whole. Information science focuses on systematic laws and operational mechanisms,while communication science excels at social analysis and value judgment. Information ecology,as a whole,falls into the category of“humanity”and therefore it seeks the harmonious information ecosystem under the background of the balance between human and environment,referring to the research of human ecology.Meanwhile,information ecology has a strong tendency toward humanism,particularly influenced by sociology,communication studies,and ethics,which makes information ecology a new interdisciplinary subject with innovative spirit and critical awareness. However,the system of information ecology has not been fully established,and the research approaches are insufficient. Therefore,it is necessary to make an exploration of the historical boundaries and characteristics of information ecology. Further breakthroughs in the establishment and development of the discipline are expected to be achieved.