Quote:
Originally Posted by NuclearFart
Does anyone else feel that the exponential rise of the internet and digital media has unleashed excessive "information" upon a naive population?
While the internet can be an unbelievable information resource, it remains a completely unregulated wasteland without the accountability of data integrity. Historically, one would go to the library for information, which did contain high quality sources (eg. encyclopedia) that had at least passed a chain of command of editors, fact verification, revisions/corrections from expert input, etc. Publishers established a credibility by striving for the truth, and were held accountable to this standard by their physical identity and the market.
Now, we rely on the internet for our information needs, while the library has become an irrelevant anachronism. Anybody can internet post whatever myth they want as "fact", often followed by others citing that post as fact, which others then cite as fact...etc, and before long it becomes a house of cards built entirely on a foundation of nothing. The problem is, few can/will ever probe to these depths, and even if someone does, the sheer volume of misinformation on this point outnumbers the truth. The internet universe doesn't get corrected or deleted; its a forever expanding mesh of past & present ideas. Given that the only real currency of the internet is number of hits (aka sheer volume), the stage is set for a vicious cycle of misinformation. We are forever left with a perpetuation of myths.
Do I think we are condemned to this fate forever? No, as the internet is not all garbage, and there remain credible resources outside of it like textbooks and publications. Open discussions here on CP certainly have merit, as there is usually someone here who genuinely knows alot about something. But moving forwards, I do think it will be integral to arm the public with the proper tools to sort through all the crap for themselves. Basic data analysis techniques, logic, statistics, and methods of critical appraisal to name a few are lacking in much of the public, however these are concepts that can be taught no differently than any other subject (and at a high school level).
Agree/Disagree/Nothing new? I'd be curious to hear others thoughts.
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More is infinitely better.
The truth for one person is not necessarily the truth for another . . . . . so if that's the argument then you're into the sticky business of deciding what the truth is and who gets to decide.
It's much better to make all information available to everyone and let them decide on their own version of "truth." And, in the world today, almost regardless of where you are, you have access to a wide variety of information and a broad range of opinions on what the truth is.
Its also be a Great Leap forward for the third world, as Sanjay Jha, the ex-CEO of Motorola observed in 2010.
“I can’t imagine anything since the invention of the spinning jenny that will so profoundly change the lives of people in the deepest rural parts of the emerging market. This is the knowledge revolution coming to them, finally.”
The internet is a rather fantastic development because its like a cockroach . . . . . no central authority can really kill it or warp it completely, as you've certainly seen in the Arab Spring. And that trend will only accelerate.
For all its untruths and perverse diversions, the internet represents a certain intellectual freedom, even the perceived abuses.
Cowperson