Information and internet
Posted on 23/07/2014
"Information is information, not matter or energy".
Norbert Wiener.
Decades after appearing the miracles of the computer technologies the mankind still have not given a clear definition to the notion of information. One of the definitions I remember from my university first course in informatics sounds quite simple: "the information is the data about the world around".
The opinion that the habit is formed during the forty days, expressed by the unknown author, can be a plausible fact. The constancy of performed movements and acts can be cunningly used for obtaining the desired results.
The constant demand is known to create the supply. The desire to get up-to-date information is an everyday need like visiting WC, having meals or the feeling of belonging to any phenomenon or activity.
The present day internet is a complicated structure of interaction where not only people's informational needs but also the desires of skilled people to satisfy these needs are woven in. There are a lot of news portals and news lines, which interests include selling the updated information and which gather on their sites millions of readers and listeners.
Whom do you believe?
How nice it is after getting out of bed to take a cup of your favorite fresh coffee, to open your favorite news portal and to read about how this world is beautiful/awful, then to leave a few comments being well aware they are very important for all human history. Do you need the truth? What for? What for does the need of the information accuracy arise? What for do you go to the theatre or to the cinema? The human body is disgusting in terms of the perfection of the cognitive mechanisms.
You will never see what is there behind the concrete wall, unless having psychic senses. You will never hear the street musician playing while he leaves at the other end of the world. Never!
Unreasonable doubt
Even the deeply religious man must doubt God's existence. Keeping by Pareto principal 20 percent of the doubts from all the information obtained, you are likely to get a bitter taste, reminding you about the ambiguity of consumed material.
The artifice of the mechanisms used
Your natural bones are always better than the prosthesis, your natural eyesight is better than anything the world best clinic can give to you. The information received and interpreted by you just the best for you. It is only you to make judgments about the accuracy of this information, about its relevance, completeness and correctness. Who ever met the slogans like "read books, don't watch TV, don't open newspapers" in social networks? These phrases appeal to the development of the critical mind which is only inherent in highly developed creatures.
I am a paranoiac
Imagine the water-pipe lines which supply your house or apartment with water. And now imagine that every day the owner of the water pipe (a company or a group of people) will add one thousandth of poison, magic potion or any other substance to the water you drink. You think it is ravings of a paranoiac, don't you?
For ages the government of any country drop by drop teaches people to the necessary way of thinking. The popular word "propaganda" is just what I am talking about. My favorite thought sounds like: "If you do not notice the techniques of the propaganda around, then this propaganda is close to be an ideal one".
The prediction
I predict that after a while (in 70-80 years) the fundamental changes will take place in the processes of creating and interpreting the information. The so-called institution of journalism will permanently transform into the system of personalized representations of the world, into the system based on automatic information gathering, where every declared fact is supported by video and audio materials. I am sure the designing of such systems will be based on the open algorithms with the participation of a large number of the enthusiasts from all over the world.
Sergey KoshkarevJuly 23, 2014