Information Age
Although we did not read past Economy from Thoreau's Walden, I wanted to bring up some of the thoughts he brings up in later sections of his work, especially in "Reading." One of the major issues he addresses is the focus on insignificant information. He criticizes society for reading the wrong books, discussing the wrong issues, etc.
Further, when he visits the nearby village, he begins to listen to some of the gossip and information exchange in the area. At one point, he describes the village as a "great news room." However, he questions society for focusing on information that is irrelevant to our lives and lacks any applications.
About a century and a half later, I feel that our society has become even more engrossed in information, mostly useless information. We have CNN News, a 24/7 news network. However, I feel that 90% of the information they cover is completely useless and a waste of time. For example, how does a high speed car chase have any important applications or implications for the rest of the nation.? Why do people care so much about the religious affiliation of Tom Cruise and his wife or how their wedding is planned? (no offense to CNN of course, they just put up what attracts viewers)
Thus, we have grown into a society concerned with the most useless of information. The "pursuit of dangerous knowledge" that we have talked about in class has taken on another form in present day, mainstream society. The knowledge that most of society seeks is dangerous not itself but more because of its lack of intellectual stimulation and applications--replacing knowledge that may actually be useful and helpful.
I feel that Thoreau would have been highly disgusted if he were to visit present day society, discovering that instead of moving towards simplicity, we have moved in the opposite direction--that is, our information communication network has grown remarkably (which can be though of an increase in complexity), but the content of the information has declined dramatically.
Further, when he visits the nearby village, he begins to listen to some of the gossip and information exchange in the area. At one point, he describes the village as a "great news room." However, he questions society for focusing on information that is irrelevant to our lives and lacks any applications.
About a century and a half later, I feel that our society has become even more engrossed in information, mostly useless information. We have CNN News, a 24/7 news network. However, I feel that 90% of the information they cover is completely useless and a waste of time. For example, how does a high speed car chase have any important applications or implications for the rest of the nation.? Why do people care so much about the religious affiliation of Tom Cruise and his wife or how their wedding is planned? (no offense to CNN of course, they just put up what attracts viewers)
Thus, we have grown into a society concerned with the most useless of information. The "pursuit of dangerous knowledge" that we have talked about in class has taken on another form in present day, mainstream society. The knowledge that most of society seeks is dangerous not itself but more because of its lack of intellectual stimulation and applications--replacing knowledge that may actually be useful and helpful.
I feel that Thoreau would have been highly disgusted if he were to visit present day society, discovering that instead of moving towards simplicity, we have moved in the opposite direction--that is, our information communication network has grown remarkably (which can be though of an increase in complexity), but the content of the information has declined dramatically.
posted by Amit at 2:20 PM
2 Comments:
I think it is really funny that you wrote on this considering every channel is zeroed in on Anna Nicole Smith's death. No offense to Anna, but she wasn't a major world leader and did not change the world in any beneficial way to warrant sooo much media attention. I think we should just make kids read books when their younger and restrict the tv/video games until they develop a brain that functions off of reality and pertinent information.
I agree that a lot of the information presented in the news is useless. However, television is not the only means of obtaining information. The greatness of the information age lies in the availability of information. Even though useless information is broadcasted through the news, there are many sources of useful information. The Duke library system has huge amounts of online databases full of useful inforamtion that lie only a click away. I feel that you have to let some of the bad in with the good. Yes, society in general focuses on useless information, but the availability of useful information has also increased making the information age into something positive.
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