The knowledge landscapes (http://knowledge-landscapes.hiim.hr/) represent multidimensional environments, which individuals encounter when searching for knowledge, particularly, knowledge related to health (1,2). In digital society, knowledge is well distributed virtually and online. A substantial fraction of knowledge landscapes is also located in the digital environment. Both health and knowledge need to be understood today as a part of the digital society. It is important to estimate the impact that digital society has on knowledge landscapes and on health. This is especially relevant in relation to the 90th anniversary of Zagreb Andrija Štampar School of Public Health and the work of its founder, Andrija Štampar, with ongoing ambition of the School to be on the leading edge of public health understanding in the present society (3). Hence, this article deals with the concepts of health in relation to the present digital environment.
How knowledge relevant to health and well-being is distributed in the digital society, and how the search for this knowledge, ie, navigating knowledge landscapes, influences everyday life and health needs to be clarified. We present different definitions of health and health-related values. The usual approach to explaining health definitions would be to give a historical and chronological overview showing the development of the ideas over time to better understand the current position. In contrast to this, in the online environment, the overload of information and limitless opportunities of content presentation result in co-existence of different views. We claim that, today, we need a historical overview to identify and understand this multiplicity of views and standpoints co-existing in the digital environment.
This co-existence being the product of digital society could be referred to as “digital anachronism”.
The concept of health as a balance between a person and the environment, the unity of soul and body, and the natural origin of disease, was the backbone of the perception of health in ancient Greece. Similar concepts existed in ancient Indian and Chinese medicine (4,5). In the 5th century BC, Pindar defined health as “harmonious functioning of the organs”, emphasizing the physical dimension of health, the physical body and the overall functionality, accompanied by the feeling of comfort and absence of pain. Even today, his definition bears importance as a prerequisite for the overall health and wellness. Plato (429-347 BC) in his “Dialogues” pointed out that a perfect human society could be achieved by harmonizing the interests of the individual and the community, and that the ideal of ancient Greek philosophy “a healthy mind in a healthy body” could be achieved if people established internal harmony and harmony with the physical and the social environment. According to Aristotle’s teaching, man is a social being by his very nature; he tends to live in communities with the duty to respect the moral standards and ethical rules. Aristotle emphasized the necessity for regulating the relations in the society to achieve harmonious functioning and preservation of health of its members. Democritus connected health with behavior, wandering why people prayed to God for health, which was essentially under their own control. Hippocrates explained health in connection with the environmental factors and lifestyle. Hippocrates was the creator of the concept of “positive health”, which depended on the primary human constitution (we consider it today as genetics), diet, and exercise. He thought that proper diet and exercise were essential for health, and that seasons’ changes had a profound effect on the mind and body, resulting in different types of predominant diseases during the winter (respiratory tract diseases) and summer (digestive tract diseases) (4,5). A lot might be said about the long standing philosophical discussion about body and soul, and in present society between body and mind, as an active dichotomy (Plato and Hellenism) or as an integrated unity (usually reference to Aristotle), which is important to know about in the current online environment.
In the Middle Ages, health perception was strongly influenced by religion and the church. After Roman Empire fell apart, the church was left as an only important infrastructure providing care for the people and collecting the knowledge on remedies, eg, herbs grown in monastery gardens (6). The “forgotten” knowledge of antiquity was re-discovered during the Renaissance and re-framed up to the present. During the period of Industrial Revolution, health became an economic category, which was to allow good condition and working ability and reduce lost work days due to illness.
Accordingly, the value of health was such as enabling economic profit. The health was intertwined with Darwinian understandings of strength and being the fittest, where meaning of life was tied to physical survival. Another health aspect considered the ability of the individual to adapt to the influences from the environment to the extent that the individual could tolerate and resist. When the adjustment is over, the disease occurs as a natural consequence. This approach first reflected only biological mechanisms of adaptation, later adding on influences from the environment, which needed to be governed and modified (4,5).SEA MORE
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