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Intelligence Professionalism in the Americas - National Intelligence ...

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to reality” can be identified for <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>oretical framework by address<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>dividual actorsand real protagonists at <strong>the</strong> micro level. Without attention to <strong>the</strong> micro level, <strong>the</strong>oreticalframework has no practical value. It is evident that a <strong>the</strong>oretical framework of this k<strong>in</strong>dmust be <strong>in</strong>terdiscipl<strong>in</strong>ary, consider<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> complexity of problems <strong>in</strong> a world where conceptsof distance and boundaries have become so amorphous.We will now leave this barely explored topic and redirect our attention to how it maybe applied to <strong>the</strong> search for a general <strong>the</strong>ory of strategic <strong>in</strong>telligence with<strong>in</strong> a more extensive,systemic <strong>the</strong>ory of social sciences.SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BASIC SCIENCE AND APPLIEDSCIENCE: APPLICATION TO INTELLIGENCEFactual sciences (<strong>in</strong> contrast to conceptual sciences that operate <strong>in</strong> closed and abstractsystems) are <strong>in</strong>timately related to observable realities that can be tested empirically. Factualsciences, depend<strong>in</strong>g on <strong>the</strong> end <strong>the</strong>y pursue, are divided <strong>in</strong>to two classes: pure science(basic research) and applied science (technology).There are similarities and differences between basic science and applied science.Basic sciences study <strong>the</strong> world for cognitive purposes, whereas applied sciences usescientific knowledge for practical purposes. Both seek knowledge, but <strong>the</strong> first seeks tostudy and understand reality; <strong>the</strong> second tries to make changes <strong>in</strong> that reality, <strong>in</strong>vent<strong>in</strong>grational ways to move from “what is” to “what should be.” The first uses <strong>the</strong>oreticalconstructs to try to expla<strong>in</strong> concrete phenomena; <strong>the</strong> second uses knowledge as a meansto modify reality.Modern technology, as opposed to <strong>the</strong> arts or simple traditional techniques based onlyon practice and experience, values and uses scientific knowledge, and adds some k<strong>in</strong>d ofnew and specific knowledge, apply<strong>in</strong>g it to solve problems or provide answers to objectivechallenges, each time <strong>in</strong> a more efficient way. Pure science presents new practicalproblems to be solved. Pure and applied sciences are related to each o<strong>the</strong>r through anexchange of <strong>the</strong>oretical and practical knowledge:758 The suggested <strong>the</strong>oretic focus is a systemic one. Any structured human group, from family toworld system, may be thought of as be<strong>in</strong>g made up of human be<strong>in</strong>gs and <strong>the</strong>ir possessions, immersed<strong>in</strong> a partly natural and partly artificial medium, and united by biological/psychological, economic, culturaland political ties — some cooperative, o<strong>the</strong>rs competitive. This approach seeks to understand<strong>in</strong>dividual-system relationships. A systems’ ultimate components are organisms with mental faculties,needs and wishes, but societies are supra-organic and supra-psychological entities with emergentproperties (such as work distribution, wealth distribution, cultural and technical development levels).Societies and <strong>the</strong>ir subsystems are envisioned by this approach as concrete or material systems characterizedby social properties related to <strong>in</strong>dividual properties and guidel<strong>in</strong>es. These basic hypo<strong>the</strong>ses ofsystemic <strong>the</strong>ory imply <strong>the</strong> creation of <strong>in</strong>tegrated analysis models: no subsystem can be analyzed withoutat least consider<strong>in</strong>g some of <strong>the</strong> variables that characterize <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r subsystems. (for more on thissystemic approach see Mario Bunge, Sistemas Sociales y Filosofía (Buenos Aires: Editorial Sudamericana,1995).471

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