5. Do we need custodians of knowledge?

Discuss with reference to two areas of

knowledge.

Humanity is used to saving every piece of knowledge, even before truly evaluating

whether this piece is useful, dangerous, or necessary at all. It is like an axiom that everything

that hasn’t been known yet is a helpful treasure. “Custodian” is a complicated term that could be

interpreted differently. Therefore, this work begins by explaining the one meaning on which it is

focused. “Custodian” – someone or something that protects and takes care of a certain piece of

knowledge and has a legal right to restrict or distribute it. Knowledge is abstract, occurring in

different forms, such as written forms, for example, books or simple notes, or physical

representations – artifacts, arts, and buildings. The one who could be named a custodian should

be a person, not a place or electronic data storage. Because those are the ways of saving data,

but the “custodian”, as stated above, should be able to operationalize a piece of knowledge, that

could not be done by non-human beings. Therefore, a custodian of knowledge is a person who

completes all the duties, prescribed by the definition of this word. However, knowledge is not

only something ancient and complicated. Memories – are pieces of knowledge too, especially

when talking about social sciences, such as history, for example. These pieces could be forever

gone if no one takes appropriate care, protects, and distributes them wider than just close

people of the one to whom those memories belong.

Based on the first chosen area of knowledge – history, the importance of memories,

considered as knowledge, would be evaluated regarding the role of the custodian. The most

relevant representation of this idea would be the book, written by Mikhail Zygar, named “The

Empire Must Die”. This is a historical book, that refers to the October Revolution of 1917, which

happened in Russia. The book does not have a specific main character, instead, it focuses on

Russian society shortly before the revolution and slightly after. It is deepening not in political

changes, but in what happened in civilians’ minds. “The Empire Must Die” – is a collection of

memories, which Mikhail Zygar carefully searched and saved. He found witnessers of those

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days. Overall, history is like our common roots, from which we inherit the consequences of past

generations' choices. The present governments could make their conclusions about more

professional outcomes, for example, economic changes during crucial times, while civilians

have to keep in mind the thoughts and dynamics of previous generations. Mikhail Zygar put

every piece of those stories in a book, and now, is trying to distribute them among nowadays

society. The purpose of it is to teach the present generation what truly happened in the past and

to prevent poisoning society with political propaganda. An essential understanding that lies in

considering Mikhail Zygar as a custodian, is that no one truly knows if he sorted these stories,

words, or even people that could become a part of his work. First of all, relying solely on

personal memories risks introducing selective bias. Individual experiences, shaped by emotions

and time, can distort historical events, leading to an incomplete or skewed understanding. It is

crucial to deeply evaluate and implement critical thinking while proceeding with such sources of

information that cannot be double-checked. The key point is that Mikhail Zygar tries to distribute

his book as a source of knowledge about the past, which corresponds to his duties as a

custodian. But memories exist within specific contexts. Generalizing from individual experience

risks overlooking broader societal dynamics and power structures.

On the other hand, we have a different situation with the assassination of John Kennedy.

Even though there were witnesses of this tragedy, their input wasn’t significant. The role of the

American government here is different from the role of the Russian government in the case of

the October Revolution. The specific person who represented a custodian in the case of John

Kennedy’s assassination could barely be named, because of the continuing security policy and

the fact, that a whole staff headquarters worked on it, however, they could be generalized into

two main stakeholders. The Warren Commission and The House Select Committee on

Assassinations (HSCA) were the ones who inspected the case. Their role was to collect the

data, proceed with it, and restrict public access. The main reason for keeping it classified is for

the sake of national security. Even without a broad variety of information, the assassination itself

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caused a huge social panic and complications in international relationships. But the key point

was there was a fact of expanding community of Americans and non-Americans who believed

and emphasized the ideas of conspiracy theories. Releasing details of how the murder operated

is risky even to our days, because of the unpredictable reaction of certain individuals. On the

other hand, even though these policies were directed at national safety, a lack of transparency

led to a decrease in citizens' trust in the government. By withholding information, the

government fuels speculation and conspiracy theories, which can be harmful to the pursuit of

truth. Open access would have allowed people to be informed and be less vulnerable to some

propaganda. Moreover, transparency about past events is crucial for learning from mistakes and

preventing similar tragedies from happening again. Overall, The Warren Commission and HSCA

were necessary to be present as custodians in this case because certain data, for example, who

sold the weapon or who was the murderer could have encouraged either international

disagreements or an increase in activity among opposition or terrorist organizations in different

countries. Therefore, custodians are needed for the protection and safety of civilians.

Deepening into another area of knowledge – natural sciences, physics, the issue there

appears differently. While Robert Oppenheimer and his team led the Manhattan Project to

develop the first operational device, its consequences demanded custodians – responsible

entities overseeing its knowledge and control. Governments of nuclear-armed nations stand as

the most immediate custodians. They regulate access to technologies, materials, and

deployment decisions, wielding immense power and responsibility. International organizations

like the IAEA play a secondary role, promoting non-proliferation and enforcing safeguards. The

scientific community, though not directly controlling weaponry, holds vital knowledge, shaping its

development, safety protocols, and potential future uses. These overlapping custodians form a

complex web, each with their motivations. However, custodianship also comes with some

disadvantages. The imbalance of power between nuclear-armed and non-armed nations is

stark, increasing tensions and conflicts. The secrecy surrounding development and capabilities

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fosters public distrust and unease, hindering transparency and accountability. And perhaps

most terrifying, the very existence of these weapons hangs over humanity, the potential for

catastrophic destruction is the reality. However, stated above factors barely could be named an

issue of having custodians for society. Custodians of this knowledge do protect humanity from

doomsday, not allowing terroristic organizations to figure out how to create a nuclear bomb.

Moreover, regarding the question of public interest in this topic, different countries sometimes

do show off certain research and scientific testing regarding the topic of nuclear development,

safety, and cooperation. And it significantly emphasizes world safety, preventing possible

conflicts that could be turned into a catastrophe. Overall, access to this knowledge must be

carefully controlled and guided by ethical considerations. Sharing sensitive information requires

international cooperation and a shared commitment to peace. Open forums and public

discourse around nuclear weapons, while acknowledging the risks, are crucial for building trust

and transparency.

Based on the above, the conclusion is as follows: The question of this work is “Do we

need custodians?” The answer, perhaps, lies not in absolutes, but in balance. Custodians, as

guardians of knowledge, play a crucial role in its continued existence and distribution of it.

However, we must remain mindful, ensuring their work is transparent and clear to the public

they serve. Some of the knowledge indeed should be covered and hidden from public access.

However, not everything that is used to be hidden, and then its custodian starts to distribute it,

worth eagerly consuming. Some preservations are serving for society's sake, but some are

simply not relevant or significant anymore. The key point is that we do need custodians, but

their purposes should be outlined clearly and emphasize the importance of why certain policies

were applied to some knowledge. It is also crucial for the ones who hold certain pieces of

information to inform that they have it, because, for example, in the second mentioned example

of John Kennedy’s assassination, conspiring theories occurred because of the lack of public

information whether the situation had political context, were an act of terrorism or declaration of

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war. An essential understanding is also the fact that truly evaluating custodians’ impact in

nowadays life is challenging because if some information is truly restricted to be accessed, it

means that there is no way to know these cases. This analysis is based on famous examples of

maintaining knowledge. While guardians of knowledge could be presented as specific writers,

artists, or even simple supervisors of museums. More down-to-earth examples wouldn’t be as

complicated for evaluation and wouldn’t have such significance in whether society needs them

or not. and of the fact that custodians are indeed necessary and relevant, and they make a

significant difference in our daily lives. Their benefits are unambiguous for society, but it is

impossible to delineate their boundaries. We can never really know how much custodians

contribute to society, but their presence is worthy of some praise and gratitude, as they serve as

a window to the past, a shield for the present, and a support for the future.

Word count: 1584

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