ABSTRACT
Government actions taken on the basis of overconfident claims to knowledge have done much harm. Most people think of decisions, action, and performance when they think of "using" knowledge. The underutilization of our knowledge of how to resolve international conflicts by peaceful means may lead to the active use of the knowledge of how to destroy life on this earth. The essential difficulty with the notion of optimum utilization of knowledge is the lack of specifications concerning its utilization by whom, for whom, for what, for how much, and what knowledge. The use of knowledge always complements the use of other resources, such as labor or material or, at least, the user's time. One cannot use knowledge without also using something else, and the complementary input may be scarce and valuable. The optimum use of knowledge for the benefit of different generations is the most problematic case.
