Yoav Ben-Dov

Research program

My work in recent years is related to the changes taking place today in a broad and interrelated array of domains, with the emergence of new ideas, new technologies and new socio-economic institutions. These changes can be perceived as the outcome of processes that gradually developed during the 20th century. Expressions of such changes can be grouped under four broad categories:
 

post-mechanistic and non-linear sciences: quantum mechanics, chaos and fractal geometry, complex dynamical systems..

new trends in academic circles and mass culture: sociocultural approaches to the philosophy of science, constructivism and postmodernism, theories and trends of multiculturalism and plurality of points of view, gender and ethnic expressions..

infotechnological transformations: the emergence of personal computing and the internet, information society and virtual communities, cyberculture and technological anarchism, digital art, electronic music culture, web economy, infotechnological impacts on knowledge and learning institutions..

the reappearance of meaning: regained interest in spirituality, in mysticism and in non-european traditions, emergence of the "new age" movement as a major social and cultural phenomenon, the challenge of organic vs. scientific medicine..
 

These developments span an array of domains that may appear widely disparate, so the question arises whether they are related at all. Clearly, any suggestion of a general theory to embrace them in a single and finite set of terms (if such could ever exist) would be out of place. Still, as they are happening all at once, and in a general atmosphere of increasing speed and intensity, it is possible to discern meaningful links and similarities, that interconnect them into a unified web of mutual influences. 

Such links are expressed, among else, in the migration of terms, signs, analogies and metaphors between the domains; in personal careers and references of innovators, thought leaders and culture heroes; in the creation, economic dynamics and human impact of user-oriented technological and cultural products; and as a central theme in the collective self-perception of the people who are actually involved with these transformations, like the "new age" movement, the "tribal" communities in electronic web culture, or the technologically enhanced youth culture of today, whose particular features in Israel deserve, naturally enough, a special attention.

Whether to welcome or to oppose any of these changes is, of course, a question of personal position. However, in recent years there appears to be a widespread awareness to the fact that they cannot be ignored, as their impacts are perceived in almost every conceivable field of thought, production and public or private life. At the same time, it is widely felt that they present a challenge to existing concepts and knowledge structures in many, if not all, of the domains concerned.

Thus, there is a growing demand for new ways to understand "the rules of the game" of the immense fields of possibilities - beneficial or dire - which are opening with these changes. As said above, I do not believe that within the present perspectives, such an understanding can be thought of in terms of a general, all-embracing theory. Instead, efforts to gain a better perception of the field can proceed by following the links and patterns that are actually emerging in the new context, and trying to express their inner logic and underlying structures in a language that can be brought into common terms with the existing concepts. 

My work is aimed at contributing to such efforts. It is further motivated by the following two considerations. First, such a research is by nature interdisciplinary; that is, it connects several existing disciplines without being confined within the boundaries of any single one. Second, this is a "real-time" research, taking place in a field which is currently in a state of flux, and whose results can (and should) be fed back into the process, by being made available to the systems undergoing such transformations. These include, for example, government agencies, the high-tech industry, the education system and general public circles. Such availability is warranted by the new, tripartite definitions of the role of the university in terms of research, education and service to the community / society.

In practice, this implied, in addition to properly academic publications, extensive writing at different levels - professional, semi-academic, educational and popular. Also, lecturing to a wide range of audiences, professional and non-professional. I also did new media publications, in the form of an educational TV series, and I maintain an active website, in which the results of my research activities are made available to academics in related fields, to government, industry and education professionals, and to the general public. 

For details on my academic and semi-academic publications, see the enclosed list. Most of the materials I published in recent years at different levels (including mass media etc.) are available on the website (http://www.bendov.info). In the coming years, I intend to pursue and further develop these activities.