THE ANCIENT SECRETS OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Abstract

The lost art of classical logic is the key to overcoming the most difficult and costly challenges of modern organizations. This becomes easy to understand when we recognize the central role of logic in both modern and legacy systems. We theorize that the study and implementation of foundational principles of logic will improve more than just data storage and retrieval—it will fundamentally alter for the better the management of unprecedented amounts of information found in modern organizations. In this paper, we layout the theoretical underpinnings for adding classical logic to information systems design and development, without dictating any specific implementation methodology. We show that people have used classical logic to organize information for more than 700 years, and that the logical structure of information should be determined by its owner, not by a toolmaker or a technical specialist. Based on our findings from historical uses of classical logic to guide the development of non-computerized business systems, we argue that a renewed emphasis on logic education and logic literacy will bring significant benefits to modern organizations that struggle to manage massive amounts of information effectively.