Ignorance and Misinformation in the Age of Information
May 25, 2010
A week or so ago, I read Dan Lyons’ article on the iPad, information access, and the effects of information overload on our society: http://www.newsweek.com/id/237809. As sad as his message is, Dan Lyons is unfortunately spot on.
Especially working in the valley here, I see the paradox of information at work everyday. With devices that give us a window to the internet in our pockets, on our couches, at work, and in our leisure spaces, we have a tendency to become fixated on–obsessively informed of, and rabidly concerned with–the minutiae of our narrow scope and interests. Despite the cheap and easy access to information, the only media we consume ends up being that which falls into our individual niche interests. In so doing, we sacrifice the breadth and worldliness which came more easily to a prior generation when information was not nearly as abundant. As Lyons points out, we lose sight of the meaning of information in this day and age; along this same trend, I also see a contradictory loneliness spreading through people, however well-connected we may be.
This trend toward meaninglessness and loneliness came about from two complementary forces. The rapid and cheap dissemination of information the internet facilitates has happened on one hand, and on the other, we ourselves are becoming more specialized. A generation or two ago, we did not have the concept of search engine marketing or social media marketing; there was simply marketing. Likewise, we could not distinguish between social gaming and console gaming when the more global phenomenon of video gaming was still in its infancy. In conjunction with the spread of information, ever and always available, our specializations have allowed us to indulge in our interests, nearly without limit. Our society even encourages this sort of specialization. Technical universities make no apology in falling short of a liberal arts education, and new, more specific jobs cater to the trend.
This has allowed us to pursue our interests at the expense of finding meaning in what we do. There is no enforced “core curriculum” or balance to the information we consume. Like a child eating only dessert, we explore the infinite depth of our narrow specialties, occasionally with an almost fetishistic focus. We are rewarded for this not only in our jobs and at school but also in our virtual social networks, with friends piling on to “like” or retweet our every impulse with the click of a button or the tap of a screen. There is no need to step back to think about anything. Spontaneity wins over thought. Yelling triumphs over reason. Suddenly, our interactions lose the sophistication that comes with understanding meaning.
It is at this point that I see the deepest tragedy that begins to afflict us. Especially in Silicon Valley, we are growing echo chambers around us, and like perfect elastic and inelastic collisions, we react to others in a binary love-or-hate way. Tech blogs like TechCrunch wield considerable power over their readers–and have largely already decided what companies and products they love and hate. So many gatherings, conferences, and “tech summits” are glorified lectures and presentations too frequently designed to stroke the ego of the speakers than to inform their listeners. Why bother finding others who offer reasoned, meaningful dissent and discussion when yes-man agreement and fanboyism is far easier to stomach and so much more comforting?
Information and the way we consume it, ironically, have isolated us. We come to value low-quality interaction and information, and we lose out on deeper meaning. Most everyone I know is barely acquainted with each of his Facebook “friends.” There is no meaning to the relationship. We have even made romance consumable through a monitor with online dating sites, yet contrary to the promise of technology, it remains incredibly difficult to find lasting relationships. As Lyons points out, this is what we deserve; it is what we created. Unfortunately, this is increasingly what we seem to want as well.
May 26, 2010 at 5:04 am
People love to moan about how the world is going to hell in a handbasket, but do they have any evidence? In this case, no. In fact, people have not become stupider. IQ has risen an average of 3 points per decade over the last century, probably from better nutrition and “greater environmental complexity.” It’s called the Flynn effect.
Are we really less well-informed than we were a generation ago? College graduation rates have been climbing for the past half century, with most of the gains happening in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Even if tech schools “fall short of a liberal arts education,” the population is better educated and better equipped to use information than when most workers did manual labor.
I like your image of us building “echo chambers” around ourselves, but honestly, is that anything new? Like attracts like. All the wars throughout human history have been about not listening to the other guy. And even if reading news today isn’t as broadening an experience as it was a generation ago, I bet more people are reading news today than they were a generation ago.
And finally, even if you do feel lonely in your technological echo chamber or whatever it is, now you have the means to break out of it with more ease than any previous generation. Before, you had to join the army to get a new perspective. Now, you just have to go to a different website!
An