Is there a knowledge environment?

The analogy between the physical world and that of knowledge enables us to speak of the “knowledge environment” and discuss various environmental problems of great significance. However, analogies can be misleading if they are not based on systemic relationships. In this paper we take the three worlds, physical, mental, and world 3, as defined by Popper, and analyze them in a common systemic framework. In particular we discuss the use of the term “living organism” in relation to the three worlds. We conclude that the metaphor of a knowledge environment does have an underlying systemic model which can be formalized as required. The analysis also applies to the world of subjective experience and gives a common foundation for ecological notions such as pollution in the worlds of biology, the mind and ideas.