The ‘Information Age’ Has a Flip Side
The phrase “information age” has come to denote the explosion in information technology and its impact upon society. Whereas the industrial age manufactured things, the information age generates information.
Electronic capabilities, especially via digitalization, have expanded so rapidly that new technologies with new capabilities appear even before society has adjusted to the impact of present technology. Many of us still struggling to master a multi-programmable videocassette recorder are being offered Prodigy and other televised information services.
Disseminating information has become a major factor in the economy. Roughly 1,000 specialized periodicals hit the mail every year, progressively examining narrower and narrower subjects. Publishers print 1,000 new book titles each day, and the sum of printed information doubles every eight years. Less than eight years ago, IBM introduced the desktop personal computer. Within three years, 10 million PCs sat on office desks across the country. Now, more than 40 million operate in homes and offices. Currently, 40% of the U.S. work force helps create, process or transmit information, and 40% of all business investments go into information technology.
To handle the tidal wave of information generated via faster transmission systems, miniaturization has become evermore popular. One 5 1/4-inch compact disk can now store an entire 250,000-page encyclopedia and still have room left over. Other technologies promise to harness ever greater tasks and place them at the disposal of the user.
Even though these technological advances originally sought to control information and bring order to the office, in many instances they have done just the opposite. The electronic office promised to reduce paper work and lessen work loads, but it has, in fact, generated more information that must still be printed and--even more challenging--be assimilated. Since computers entered office systems, paper utilization has increased sixfold and work weeks have lengthened. From 1973 to 1987, leisure time shrank from 26.2 hours per week to 16.6, according to a Roper Organization study in Psychology Today magazine, and the number of hours spent at the office rose to 47 from 41.
The harder people work, the less time they have, and that creates anxiety. It also encourages the creation of new instruments that further the anxiety. During 1988, businesses purchased more than one-half of the 1.6 million fax machines currently in use--and added another 1.2 million in 1989. “People are so crazy now,” complained Hollywood publicist Josh Baron, “that they call to tell you your fax line is busy.”
Some consumers have responded with humor to this manic drive for information. In San Francisco, Cellular Phoney sells fake car phones to those who enjoy the image but would rather avoid the expense and anxiety of owning the real thing. Given the opportunity, many people would leave the electronic environment altogether. A recent survey asked respondents what activities they would pursue if given an extra four hours a day. Their responses ignored the new technology and showed a strong desire to sever contact with the electronic flow:
- 33%--read.
- 31%--fix things around the house.
- 27%--pursue hobbies.
- 26%--socialize.
(The total exceeds 100% because respondents could select more than one answer.)
The recent popularity of the PBS series, “Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth,” which attracted the largest audience (36 million viewers) in the network’s history, relates to the need for larger explanation of events, an implicit recognition that information alone does not answer bigger questions. From a social point of view, the show’s success suggests that information has not brought individuals any closer to understanding the deeper questions of life and morality. From that perspective, learning from information becomes merely functional, not enlightening.
Robert Fulghum’s popular book, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten,” cuts through the information glut to reconnect with some cultural fundamentals. The lessons of kindergarten--interpersonal and psychological development--remain significant, Fulghum insists, while later lessons--skills for acquiring, digesting and utilizing information--seem transient. In short, relationships last; skills pass.
For those overcome by the rising tide of facts and figures, seeking more personal and long-lasting communications may offer a stabilizing response to the information overload. Canceling subscriptions, rejecting scientific studies or challenging information sources can become an act of empowerment. That shift in attitude and power alignment has already started.
One result of this attitude shift is the smooth, cool image of technological advancement in the information age may undergo some revisions of its own. As the desire for communication gains force, more personal and less complicated strategies may be needed to reconnect with the consumer, voter, worker and others who imagine themselves on the outside of the technological revolution.
