Knowledge and knowhow are a pair of notions that have strong links between each other. It is a challenge to see 2 knowledge systems, knowledges, to co-exist sometimes for a very long time. Medicine is a good example. The traditional Chinese medicine continues to exist in parallel to the western style science based medicine. It remains a challenge to analyse the effectiveness, efficiency and equality each system can provide. In terms of public health the border between knowledge and knowhow becomes more blurred. The knowledge about diseases needs to be transferred into knowhow of how to prevent the disease to the population at large. This is a steep challenge as the persistence of alcohol abuse, smoking habits and other drugs abuses show on a global scale. Knowledge alone on the negative consequences is far from enough to prevent abuse. The thin and blurred line between use and abuse of pharmaceutical products equally challenges our traditional views on knowledge and knowhow. In a knowledge graph knowledge would figure, for example, in the core and knowhow as a satellite on the periphery. However, despite the strong link between these 2 notions, knowhow has a lot of additional links to topics like health or yin and yang. Knowhow has a basic link also to notions like memory (techniques) or even war (equipment). The more abstract notion of knowledge, “le savoir”, has been seen for a long time superior to the less abstract notion of knowhow, “savoir faire”. Polymaths have been identified for touching on several fields of knowledge with little concern for the practical side of things, despite the fact that Leonardo da Vinci combined many fields of science of his time to improve technology of his time including visions for the future. The double bind link exists in the recursive element of a link between 2 notions. Rather than denying its existence we have a lot to do to incorporate the more complicated links into our scientific knowledge and the more practical knowhow. 
Know how
The construction of a knowledge graph is like an exercise in visual thinking or image thinking. A common method in design, visual thinking uses graphical tools to visualize ideas and develop the ideas on the basis of these visuals. So, let’s take our ABC of notions running from action … over nature … to zero. We place these notions in the core of the knowledge space and develop the satellite combined notions around the core. Visually this is easily reflected in the figure below. Content-wise a lot of thinking has to fill the combinations and check empirically this mind map of the knowledge space. Abundant complexity will let us search for digital tools to accomplish such tasks. On this webpage we find already a cloud of words that is empirically showing biggest the words with the most entries of the same key word. This shows us visually what this blog is mainly about. Europe and democracy appear fairly big. Additional analytical tools will clarify what are major or minor links to this pair of notions. “There’s something on my mind”, something which I might not even be aware of. Just an empirical question, should be easy to solve, eventually. 
Bio-medical-sociology
In family histories we like to look on tree-like linking structures. Most frequently the choice is the descendant perspective (Top down). X, Y, Z have been the children of A and B and so on for a couple of generations. Bottom-up perspectives are equally feasible and modern patchwork families have more widespread representations of their families. Those representations were easy to do as families were lifelong bonds. Shorter family bonds, previously mainly caused by pre-mature deaths, are more common as people might have different partners and off-springs at different periods of their life course. Drawing family trees then looks more like a network structure of several families. History and literature is full of stories of how families aimed to keep their genealogy simple to the outside world. Modern days are no exception to this. Law had to adapt to these societal facts and changes thereof. Comparing decades over the last century there is, in my view, the remarkable trend to allow for more complexity in family histories, even after the 60s leading to many complete ruptures of family ties and links throughout the 70s and 80s.
With reducing fertility rates in most, not only western regions of the world, medical demography is back on the agenda. Similar to family trees, new forms of identifying promising pharmaceutical products have moved to more data-driven disease insights. Historically the local medical doctor had an overview about the likelihood of diseases following family’s medical histories over generations. Data-driven analyses, supported by data analytics and/or AI support, can learn permanently about potential and actual risks. New links of diseases are discovered this way extending the family doctor’s view of risks to watch out for in patients. Additional remedy and marketing potentials of existing drugs are also detected this way, beyond anecdotal evidence. Research published in the “Journal of biomedical semantics” by Vlietstra et al. (2020) classifies disease trajectories to construct knowledge graphs of biomolecular interactions. What previously a medical doctor in region could infer from his medical records in a less systematic way, can now be analysed on big data sets of countries, continents or even the global scale. Data is knowledge, and some already know, that this data-driven knowledge is worth a lot of money. Linking previously and seemingly unrelated facts or events, just like becoming aware of more complex family trees through DNA-analyses is the medical part of history. How we deal with this as families or societies as a whole, is the trickier part. Structural changes of societies are marked by decades-like changes, but specific events like “Fukushima”, Tschernobyl or other man-made rather than natural disasters have created new forms of contamination and the spreading of it. In addition to family trees we need broader consideration for knowledge bases to demonstrate, for example, the spread of cancer in the networked society. Additionally this evidence should have a stronger recognition in courts as prove of contamination lines. Statistical reasoning is more likely to become court-relevant. Hence, train the legal profession beyond what “statistical discrimination” is like. Causal mechanisms are manifold. Some are more likely than others. Semantic knowledge graphs remind us of the presence of reverse causality many relationships. Scientists need an optimistic state of mind to abstract from many intervening processes on health, be they tiny micro- or bigger macro-level societal effects. 
Flotow Potpourri
Über das musikalische Thema der Flotow Oper „Martha“ gibt es der heutigen Popmusik vergleichbar spätere verkürzte Versionen. Zu einiger Beliebtheit ist das Potpourri zu den Motiven von Martha gekommen. Kleineres Orchester und ein melodisches vereinfachtes Arrangement konnten für kurze Konzertabende verwandt werden. Der Komponist und Arrangeur Spasny Op. 65 hat Flotows Melodien aus „Martha“ publiziert (desgleichen von Wagner und Verdi). Die Kopie in der KBR Bruxelles ist ein kompletter Orchestersatz datiert von 1886 und 28.7.1894. Aufgeführt wurde das Potpourri im Kursaal von Ostende, wahrscheinlich für die Sommergäste in der Hafenstadt mit naheliegenden Erholungsgebieten und Küstenorten. Neben einigen schönen handschriftlichen Kopien für Violine (5 Seiten) oder Pauken (1 Seite, viele Pausentakte) ist die Partitur für die 1. Violino als „Conducteur“ (assisté?) ausgewiesen und sehr abgegriffen. Interessant sind die Anmerkungen und Einfügungen, wahrscheinlich zu wichtigen Parallelstimmen. Die komplette Streichung ab dem Larghetto am Ende der Partitur, anfänglich in Des-Dur, war vielleicht zu anspruchsvoll, für das zu erwartende Publikum. Ein F-Dur Abschlussakkord vorher klingt erholsamer, zumal im Urlaub nicht wahr. Der an einem Gag interessierte Musikfreund amüsiert sich an der Kritzelei am Anfang. Aus MARTHA; POTPOURRI ist Martha, Potpourrie geworden, was so viel heißt, wie „Martha verdorben“. Der Dirigent (Assistent? Es gibt noch ein sauberes Conducteurexemplar in der Mappe) hatte wohl einen schwierigen befristeten Sommerjob angenommen. Alternativ könnten wir das aber auch interpretieren als Kommentar zu der vereinfachten, aber verdorbenen Version der Flotowschen Martha als Originalstück. Genauer wollen wir das gar nicht wissen, oder?
Flotow Europa
In der späteren Aufführungspraxis des Werks von „Fritz“ von Flotow, wie ihn seine Mutter in MeckPom nannte, sollte es für den in Frankreich ausgebildeten Jugendlichen einige Fallstricke zu überwinden geben. Bereits seine erste Oper „Alessandro Stradella“ hatte mit Produktpiraterie zu kämpfen. Der Übersetzer Gustave Oppelt (1844 Autor zu Stradella genannt BNF), mit Erwähnung auch von Alphonse Royer, hatten die Rechte des Librettos inne (Stempel des Dépôt Légal 1859 Nr 1139). Anlässlich der Erstaufführung in Brüssel am 2-3-1859 au Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie erschien das gedruckte Libretto versehen mit einem Echtheitsstempel. Bereits 1860 gab es dann Anlass, dass Gustave Oppelt mit der Unterstützung von „Frédéric de Flotow“ für seine Übersetzungsrechte kämpfen musste und dazu eine Notiz in der „La revue et gazette musicale de Paris“ veröffentlichen mussten. Autorenrechte waren und sind keine Selbstverständlichkeit. Die Lebensgrundlagen vieler Künstler, besonders der KünstlerInnen, auch heute, bleiben meistens prekär. Flotow war bereits beteiligt an Vereinen, die die Kompensation von AutorInnenrechten vertraten. Die „Dédicace“ an die königliche Hoheit Madame la grande Duchesse Douairière Alexandrine de Mecklembourg-Schwerin, née princesse de Prusse (Link Stammbaum), versteht sich dabei wohl auch als Dank für die Berufung von Flotow als Intendant an das Theater von Schwerin, gleich neben dem schönen Schloss. Mäzene konnten wohl über Stellenbesetzungen KünstlerInnen ihr künstlerisches Arbeiten weiterhin ermöglichen. Flotow brauchte auch die Unterstützung, die ihn zu seinem Lebensende nach Darmstadt umziehen ließ.
Ukraine 360
360 days of traumatising war of Russia in Ukraine. Yet, Ukrainians manage to stem the invasion this time for a year. My generation of baby boomers in Western Europe no longer knows the day to day horrors of war. A photo-realistic exhibition organised by Dr. Justyna Napiórkowsak together with the Ukrainian Embassy in Brussels brings to us more than images of destruction. The Exhibition builds on a transparent organisation. All day and night long you can feel and reflect in front of the gallery windows of what war means to people affected. Rather than passing over the daily horrific news, it is important to take in images that will last within you. Since the exhibitions excels in linking to strong own emotions, the images tell lasting stories. Communicating about war is difficult. This exposition at the “Mont des Arts 8” in Brussels, not far from the “Place des Martyres” is symbolic. Ukrainian artists are going to stay with us, showing us what “The year of resilience. courage, determination and solidarity” mean in the Europe of today. Ukrainian youth, like the whole population, demonstrates all of this in posing for their 2022 graduation photo (Stanyslav Senyk, 2022) actually within the ruins of their city. They seem to sing: “We shall build this city on rock and roll” again. Ukrainian culture is unique. Putin’s Russia is still living in the 50s state of mind. The Russian soldiers might soon have their 60s moment “make love, not war”. For persons with Russian roots in Eastern Europe it feels like what you believed or were told was a friend before is now turning around and you shooting at you including committing war crimes (Geneva convention) on you. The exposition is a “homage to Ukraine”, Ukraine’s resistance and resilience. Teaching us lessons, lessons we should like to learn fast for the survival of democracy and our way of life based on freedom not coercion. The sociology of war informs what the term “Zeitenwende” means. Look at it, rather than look away. As previous College Master at Jacobs University Bremen graduation ceremonies were very personal and emotional events meeting students, many with their families. Ukraine 3.0 will prevail eventually. Thanks, Justyna for putting images 360° and 360 days next to this optimistic message. 
40s
The years spanning from January 1940 to December 1949 are probably the worst to cramp into one decade. However, there are a few historians that use this approach to throw new light on a distant series of historical events in the 40s. The European perspective is dominated by war years and still has to deal with the unimaginable atrocities committed by Nazi-Germany until the end of the Second World War. From a more global historical perspective the war in the pacific also leaves lasting political changes, which are important to understand international politics and affairs of today. After a disastrous beginning with war for the USA for the decade, on the 10-12-1948 the United Nations (Charter Ratification 24-10-1945) General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On the timeline at the end of the 40s we find the founding of NATO (4.4.1949) and (12-8-1949) the Geneva Convention which specifies internationally accepted laws of warfare. The beginning of the Cold War (Yalta and Potsdam Conferences in 1945) with strategies of containment and confrontation (Thomas Tandy Lewis, 2011 p.220), Berlin blockade determined a long-lasting concern for a balance of power across the world. The 40s were a market period of de-colonisation as well. The U.S. enabled struggles for independence to succeed with a sticks and carrots politics towards their wartime allies. The Marshall Plan for European Recovery is the most prominent example of this period. Ronald Goldberg (2012) includes a chapter on the home front in his summary of the forties in the U.S.A. After the 2nd World War all countries had to re-establish their societies and economies that had suffered due to lack of sometimes even caring for the most basic needs. Important lessons have to be learnt from the 1940s (Dave Renton, 2000 p.144) concerning how Fascists could rise and why, for example Britain, could resist the fascist movement. Anti-fascism in Britain during the 1940s and the importance to stop beginnings of an undemocratic political movement early and with the help of the police are 2 elements of the lessons learnt. Goldberg argues that it is less the Fascist ideology that conquered the minds of people, but the organisation as a political and para-military movement that is the more important threat to democracy. 
From AI with Love
Love is action. Love is balance. Love is corruption.
Love is democracy. Love is enterprise. Love is freedom.
Love is god. Love is health. Love is imagination. Love is joy.
Love is knowledge. Love is law. Love is memory.
Love is nature. Love is optimism. Love is policy.
Love is question. Love is repairing. Love is society. Love is time.
Love is union. Love is value. Love is war.
Love is xeno. Love is yinyang.
Love is zero.
All you need is laugh. Love is all you need. 
Aphorismen
Eine Sammlung von Aphorismen, wie sie Georg Christoph Lichtenberg hinterlassen hatte, regten viele Denkende an, sich mit seinem Gedankengebäude zu befassen. Die prägnante Form der Zusammenfassungen, Hypothesen oder Vermutungen zu jeweils einem großen Thema hat ihn unsterblich werden lassen. In Form von Gedankenblitzen, Neudeutsch Tweets, vor mehr als 222 Jahren, gestorben ist er im Jahr 1799, zeugen von großem Weitblick, Tiefe und Breite seines Wissens (Polymath). Jede Person, die sich heute in der Schule mit der Infinitesimalrechnung befasst, der mathematischen Annäherung an einen GrenzwertS (Mathe Vorlesungsnotizen pdf), findet bei Lichtenberg zum Beispiel die Anwendung dieser Methode auf soziale Phänomene. Einer Wahrheit werden wir uns auch nur annähern können, selbst wenn wir sie auf unsere Weise, zumindest temporär, als solche definieren. Vor mehr als 250 Jahren hat Lichtenberg bereits in seinem ersten „Sudelbuch“ interessante Gedanken niedergeschrieben, die uns heute noch Nachdenken lassen. „Unser Leben hängt so genau in der Mitte zwischen Vergnügen und Schmerz, dass uns schon zuweilen Dinge schädlich werden können, die uns zu unserm Unterhalt dienen, wie ganz natürlich veränderte Luft, da wir doch in die Luft geschaffen sind.“
Dem modernen Menschen ist das Bewusstsein, in die Luft geschaffen zu sein, fast vollständig abhandengekommen. Unsere Eingriffe, wider besseren Wissens, lassen weltweit jährlich Millionen Menschen vorzeitig sterben am Smog der Moderne. Innovation ist enervierend, wenn sie nicht vornehmlich den Menschen im Blick hat. Es sollte noch einige Jahre nach Lichtenberg brauchen bis Goethe Faust den Satz sagen ließ: Die Geister, die ich rief, ich werd’ sie nicht mehr los. Lichtenberg setzte das obige Zitat so fort: „Allein wer weiß, ob nicht vieles von unserem Vergnügen von diesem Balancement abhängt; diese Empfindlichkeit ist vielleicht ein wichtiges Stück von dem, was unsern Vorzug vor den Tieren ausmacht.“ Aus dem Akt der Balance den jede/r Einzelne zwischen Schmerz und Vergnügen im Lebensverlauf beschreibt ist längst ein gesellschaftlicher und politischer Balanceakt geworden, zwischen gesellschaftlichen Gruppen sowie zwischen Generationen. Die Abweichungen von einem Grenzwert oder von einem ausbalancierten Zustand sind ebenfalls größer geworden, so dass der ganze Akt ins Wanken gerät. Mit dem beschriebenen, unserem Vorzug vor den Tieren, könnte jedoch ebenfalls ein Teil des Problems sein, denn die Vernichtung der Biodiversität ist nun mal noch die Lebensgrundlage des homo sapiens. Seien es Schwankungen um einen Mittelwert oder immer kleinere Annäherungen an einen Grenzwert, wir wanken auf Pfaden, die Lichtenberg angerissen hat. Blogposts sind wohl vergleichbar den Einträgen in Sudelbüchern. Aus vielen Puzzleteilen kann ein Gesamtbild entstehen, muss aber nicht. Die Begriffe „Random Walk“ oder „Brownsche Bewegung“ sind erst lange nach Lichtenberg entwickelt worden. Heute sind wir von dem „Random Walker Algorithmus“ begeistert oder erschreckt, wenn letzterer für „fake news“ statt Wahrheitsfindung missbraucht wird. 
Photo K
The self portrait is a timely topic for an exhibition of photography. As part of the European month of photography (EMOP), the PhotoBrusselsFestival offers a good overview of what photography deals with in the 21 century. The Korean cultural centre (KCC) in Brussels has a long tradition to serve as an exposition in the centre of Brussels (Sablon) and is joining this year’s photo festival. The 2023 photography festival has the “Self-Portrait” as a guiding theme. Rather than entering the debate about “portrait chosen or portrait endured” (Photographica 5,2022) the self-portrait has more degrees of freedom in it. Even if it is apparently a choice to portrait oneself, there are ample examples, where the urge to produce a self-portrait is part of a wider concern for fundamental issues.
The exhibition of 5 artists from Korea at the KCC invites us to reflect on the pervasive self-portrait practice all around us. The self-portrait is not only a tool of self-reflection, which has a long tradition in art (just think of a famous drawing by Albrecht Dürer of himself), but self-portraits are also pervasive on media and social media today. Additionally, the self-portrait is a powerful tool of thinking and imagining yourself at various stages of the life-course. For centuries it had been a social or political privilege to have your portrait taken. It still is to some extent, but only if the person taking the photograph, has a special reputation. In a market difference to the selfie, the exhibition of artists in the KCC highlights the process of self-reflection that is part of creating the portrait as well as the ensuing reflection by the spectator. In looking at the self-portrait of the photographer, we might involuntarily deal first with our own perception of the image. Danger, dreams, fantasy, sorrow, pain, self-assertion and reconstruction of the self, all these themes come to mind when confronted with the self-portraits of the 5 artists (Bae Chan-hyo, Jeong Yun-soon, Lee Jee-young, Ahn Jun, Choi Young-kwi).
KCC director Kim Jae-hwan names this collection, curated by Seok Jae-hyun, “An odyssey of images leading to self-re-flection”. In referring back to the protagonists in novels from Hermann Hesse, he points our attention to the “unique journey through images as they find themselves”. To embark on the journey visit KCC in Brussels, ask for a copy of the catalogue or start by reading the title of the exposition: “Who Am I” – it is apparently no longer a question after the journey. Is it for you? More reflection on images and photos here. 
