Shenk - Data smog: surviving the information glut

Surviving the Information Glut

REVISED AND UPDATED EDITION

For Sol Shenk
and Bb Wolf

Mr. Mouche climbed on his horse and rode it beautifully.

You must be proud of yourself, said the professor.

No, replied Mr. Mouche.

Still, your horse goes exactly where you want it to go, said the professor.

Thats because I always want to go exactly where the horse wants to go, replied Mr. Mouche.

Jean-Luc Coudray

If scientific discovery has not been an
unalloyed blessing, if it has conferred on
mankind the power not only to create
but also to annihilate, it has at the same
time provided humanity with a supreme
challenge and a supreme testing.

John F. Kennedy, 1963

S omething marvelous has been happening to humankindnot just in the last three or four years with computers and the Internet, but more broadly in the last several decades. Information is moving faster and becoming more plentiful, and people everywhere are benefiting from this change.

But theres a surprising postscript to this story. When it comes to information, it turns out that one can have too much of a good thing. At a certain level of input, the law of diminishing returns takes effect; the glut of information no longer adds to our quality of life, but instead begins to cultivate stress, confusion, and even ignorance. Information overload threatens our ability to educate ourselves, and leaves us more vulnerable as consumers and less cohesive as a society. If were going to make the most of this spectacular information revolution, we need to work hard to counteract these unintended consequences.

This is not the first time we have been confronted by the unpleasant side effects of abundance. We who live in the most sophisticated and successful nation on Earth also routinely find ourselves burdened by problems of excess. Now, for all the wonders technology, a menacing cloud of data smog has drifted in. In these pages, we will explore its unwholesome properties and suggest some healthful remedies. This book aims to be a reminder of the critical distinction between information and understanding, and it demonstrates why you dont have to feel personally overloaded with information to be a victim of the information glut. Data Smog is also designed to counteract much of the corporate hype surrounding the information revolution. This book is neither techno-utopian nor neo-Luddite. It is technorealist appreciating the benefits of technology while recognizing and responding to its drawbacks.

For claritys sake, the book is divided into four sections. Part 1, Signal to Noise, reviews the historic transition from information scarcity to information glut, and examines how microtechnology and stimulus overload affect the human animal. How much complexity and information are we designed to handle? When were flooded with data, what happens to our memories? Our relationships? Our sense of ourselves?

Part 2, Virtual Anarchy, explores the less obvious, but no less serious, social and political consequences of the information revolutiona culture beset by constant upgrades, a troublesome flood of statistics, an upward spiral of noise, hyper-specialization, and a democracy arguably too plugged in for its own good.

Part 3, A New Order, outlines the new power dynamics that arise out of the information chaos. Data smog is an extremely hospitable environment to a medley of unsavory characters and powerful industries. To them, information glut is not a vexing problem, but a fresh opportunity.

Part 4, A Return to Meaning, suggests a path toward a more intelligent tranquillity. Specific government action is suggested, along with a number of personal steps we can all adopt in order to become empowered by information instead of being smothered by it. By taking stock now, perhaps we can help to clear the air and make way for a new information ecology.