The Impact of the Information Age on Society
The Impact of the Information Age on Society I have, since my earliest memories, been fascinated by the rapid advancements in science and technology. I have seen, in the course of the last 40+ years, our ability to affect the world around us in almost any way we desire, and I have also seen changes to major segments of humanity made through the application of power, without thought to long term consequences. In addressing the impact of the Information Age on society in general, we must consider the three main mechanisms of the information exchange process as it exists today. They are the personal computer, the Internet, and the human mind. All three are capable of perceiving and representing the world as pure information, and the rate at which that information can be processed and transmitted is increasing rapidly. About forty years ago, I began to read science fiction books. Inexpensive paperbacks filled with stories about interstellar travel, time machines, and computers. I can vividly recall one passage that forever altered the way I would think about computers. Picture, if you will, a bank of keyboards and a host of "scientists" workin
From that perspective, it would simply look as though social changes had increasingly lead up to the event itself. When I sat down to my first computer, it was like the logical loom in Hesse's story. How do you sort thought this tsunami of data and put it in perspective? And even if you could slow it down, what could you possibly measure it against to gain a reliable point of relevance and importance? Even the cultural horizon has moved, and we can never go home again. Far from being quenched, our thirst for knowledge has grown in direct proportion to our ability to gather the information we desire. The phrase "within the fullness of time" comes to mind. We seem to have a passion for developing machines capable of greater and greater power and capabilities, and fooling ourselves into thinking we have full control over them. Within less than a year I had changed my professional career path from theater to the information "industry. Moore's Law states that the density of silicon integrated circuits closely follows the curve (bits per square inch) = 2(t-1962) where t is time in years. The term "accident" or "oversight" does not seem to be applicable to the rampant desire to grab hold of the reins of creation and destruction, for they are both just two different sides of the coin of power. It must be done before the generation that created this behemoth passes away and leaves it in the hands of those who do not understand it, nor care about the implications extant in its presence and the threat of its future. Every invention, every discovery, every breakthrough is drawing us closer and closer towards real, visceral event participation. The 'gestalt' of this racial subconscious entity was at once, hideous, evil, and it was totally out of control.
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