ABSTRACT
The concept of knowledge cannot be detached from personal action or a state of knowing. Nevertheless, we can talk of social knowledge or knowledge transfer as if knowledge is crystalized out of living bodies. To explain this contradictory character of knowledge, this chapter proposes to distinguish bodily knowledge, which is essentially personal, from information which is detached from senses and memories and transmitted from one individual to another. The chapter describes how the Vezo fishermen in Madagascar exchange information in the global network of communication and transportation, as well as developing their own knowledge. Vezo people utilize exotic materials and devices that convey four kinds of information: human speeches and motions in face-to-face communication among individuals; affordance of the natural environment and its components; artificially designed tools and devices themselves; and inscription on media materials or devices. The chapter demonstrates that richness of personal and local knowledge keeps the world multiple and plural worlds diverse, even though the networks of information become globally integrated.
