My post on Sunday has provoked some interesting comments and thoughts, thanks Ian and Darlene for commenting.
Ian, you are so right in that we have all the information we want at our finger tips, but it is only the information that is on the Internet. What about all the information/thoughts that are out there that are not 'yet' available on Google.
Who decides what information should be accessed? What filters are in play when we try to access information.
In World Religions I have been looking at the Holocaust Denial theories and am fascinated with the thought that could something like the Holocaust happen again. With the world able to access photos and information as it occurs, will we ever be in the situation to be able to claim "We did not know!" Or even with all the freedom that modern technology has given us, are we still only able to access information that people think is relevant and that we chose to read.
World news is in the control of a few major players, so maybe history is not being written by the winners this time, but rather by those who control the technology. Their spin dictates what and how we read about things.
A provoking series of thoughts for early in the morning, yes it is only 6.38am. I guess I should go and make breakfast and school lunches.
Beverly
2 comments:
Interesting response. I don’t think major world events will ever be covered up again, there are too many ‘reporters’ out there these days. Check at the Tsunami that happened in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, how quickly footage of that disaster was carried around the world. Everyone and their dog these days has a cell phone and they usually have a blog, or a Facebook or MySpace page, or with email they will tell two friends who will tell their friends and so on. So nope, the technology is too pervasive. I mean the internet was designed by the military in such a way that no-one part going down or being eradicated would affect the whole?
As for the large corporate controlling News, that is a fair point – check at the embedded journalist problem with FoxNews when the USA invaded Iraq. One could argue that that was a very one sided viewpoint of the conflict and perhaps the full truth will never be known there – so it was clear that with tight governmental and press control the truth can be withheld. I just think that this is becoming more and more difficult to do.
My real point though is a concern that innovation is taking a back seat to the ability to search for someone else's finding's. I'm busy re-reading Bill Byrson's a Short History of Everything and there it is so clear how many gifted individuals in isolation came up with some atonishing theories that were mostly correct. And they did this without outside influence or other 'intellectual' thoughts guiding them this way or that. I think this is happening to a far lessor degree today and I'm questioning: At what cost? Is everything you read on Wikipedia correct? ;)
Thanks for a though provoking blog though as always. :)
Very interesting to say the least. I feel our generation has the best of both worlds, the younger generation however is not as fortunate in my opinion.
Unfortunately it's too late here tonight to really get into a good discussion but one of these days I hope to get back here, between the essays and exams!
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