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Remember
that sense of awe-inspired wonder when you first
learned that no two snowflakes are alike? I do.
And for me, the feeling of awe was extended when
I learned there's a finite amount of energy in the
universe, that it just takes different forms. Now
I wish someone would tell me there's a finite amount
of information in the universe; perhaps then I wouldn't
feel so damned overwhelmed. I don't know which
is worse - being inundated with information or not
having enough.
I use a computer as much as the next person, probably
even a little more. In fact, sometimes I wonder
if I could write anything at all anymore without
a word processor. But I wonder about how computer
technology and the Internet serve us as they evolve,
and how they help us - or don't help us - deal with
information effectively.
The earliest machines, like the lever, magnified
our muscle power to help us move things. Industrial-age
machines, like the steam engine, used other sources
of energy, but they essentially made us stronger.
Now we use computers, or thinking machines - although
we know that they don't really think, but just calculate
quickly. And computer networks provide the ability
to communicate quickly.
Basically, software recreates what our brains are
capable of doing. Programming languages are used
to create applications, which are collections of
processes that we want the computer to perform.
We can accomplish these things ourselves, but not
as quickly. So, there's not really anything new
being done; we're just doing things faster.
Some say that the speed makes us more intelligent,
because it creates more options for us to work with,
but I'm not totally convinced of that. And some
say that the increased speed makes us work more
efficiently, whatever that means. But although
our infatuation with computers is essentially a
quest to go faster, we're still challenged to find
ways of identifying what information is essential.
Consider a successful retailer, one that has traditionally
relied on the expertise of its buyers to know what
will sell. Then, as technology evolves, these people
are provided with computer programs that shower
them with all kinds of data. They learn how many
purple widgets were sold in Boston on the third
Tuesday of each month, or whenever there was a full
moon. And, since everyone knows that numbers don't
lie, they become a significant factor in purchasing
decisions, overwhelming the judgment of those who
include other factors in their decisions. Sales
start to tail off. The company wonders what happened.
Eventually, they come to understand that interpreting
information is at least as important as accumulating
it, and that numbers, while important, are only
a part of the overall picture.
Information overload isn't just a work phenomenon,
either. We're also subjected to the deluge in our
personal lives. We have virtually instantaneous
access to everything from sports scores to 401(K)
plans to world news headlines - not to mention book
prices, car choices, stock options, and childcare
considerations - and let's not forget cellular choices,
house prices, and book options. How are we empowered
by all this information? Does it increase our leisure
time, or enhance our quality of life?
In his new book, "Faster: The Acceleration of Just
About Everything," science writer James Gleick ponders
a world that is moving ever faster because of technology,
which provides the ability to slice time into increasingly
thinner pieces. Perhaps we're shaving it so thin
that we're compromising its essence - you know,
like the cook in the Paul Bunyan legend who made
pancakes so thin they only had one side. Does anyone
remember if time was any thicker fifty years ago?
But the issue isn't really speed, it's the amount
of information. And although I've written previously
of the need to find ways of coping with the information
avalanche, here's a different way of looking at
it: perhaps it's all part of a process. Could the
development of the computer - which is, after all,
an invention of the human mind - be part of a larger
scheme that we're not focusing on? Perhaps we're
being forced to deal with more information in order
to develop and use some of the untapped potential
of our brains. Perhaps we should tame our egos
a bit and think about technology and the Information
Age as evolutionary instead of revolutionary.
Lately I've been thinking of that I Love Lucy episode
from the 1960s, the one where she worked in the
candy factory. When the conveyor belt went nuts,
poor Lucy was faced with an onslaught of chocolate
candies, more than she could handle, so she started
grabbing them and putting them wherever she could
- her mouth, her pockets, down the front of her
blouse, etc.
We're definitely getting faster, and we're finding
ways to stuff the chocolate in lots of places, but
to what purpose?
Copyright
1999 Stephen
Wacker All Rights Reserved
Contact
Stephen
Wacker at swacker@accessone.com
regarding use of this copyrighted material. Stephen
Wacker writes about technology, culture and society.
His career as an information technology professional
has focused primarily on communications and the
Internet. Mr. Wacker also writes about contemporary
popular music and is an accomplished songwriter
and guitarist.
Is
life moving to fast? Do you think humanity would
be better served by even faster technologies such
as those flying cars in The Jetson’s? Discuss Here
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