Does more information mean we know less?

The short answer. Yes.

I’ll keep it simple.

What are the factors contributing to having more information = knowing less?

1. The human tendency to pay attention to that which interests us instead of that which doesn’t fall within our sphere of interest.

2. The influx of youngsters into the informational world to get and provide information.

3. The tendency of younger minds to be appealed to that which is immediately gratifying, trivial, sensational, publicised, etc.

The discomfort of contradiction can be shunned with a single click of a mouse, and one can bathe in the self-validating mires of similitude. You don’t get wiser this way, just equally dumb.
The combination of 1 to 3 mean that people tend to form self-validating enclaves of similarly interested people. Basically, the more i can interact with people of similar interests, the less i’m going to bother about people of dissimilar interests. With the world wide web, people can immediately access similarly minded people. The discomfort of contradiction can be shunned with a single click of a mouse, and one can bathe in the self-validating mires of similitude. You don’t get wiser this way, just equally dumb. Any wonder why the ‘i’ word has become overly-used? What with ipod, iphone, i-this and i-that. It takes a particular and extremely self-absorbed mindset to not baulk at such grossly self-centred shite.

This is exacerbated by, amongst others, ‘blogawards’ that validate people who’ve had the most ‘hits’ - which frequently refers not to the insight-value of a site, but the degree to which it panders to the juvenile-led appetites of the day - which in turn is led by ads, the ‘education’ system, the media, etc. 'Social networks' don't make things any better with their self-validating communities. Instead of the internet and attention to our interests being a springboard for ventures into uncharted territories of information, it tends to become a refuge or couch wherein we revolve and evolve into less than what we can be.

Think about it.


ed




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