The Way I See It - The Tsunami Is Here
The Way I See It - The Tsunami Is Here
There is a sense that in recent years our political and social discourses have become meaner. Our political system is increasingly seen as being more about gaining or retaining power than abou
There is a sense that in recent years our political and social discourses have become meaner. Our political system is increasingly seen as being more about gaining or retaining power than about solving problems. Our trust in a democratic system of government depends on public access to information. As citizens-in-dialogue, we need to be able to lay the facts, as well as our beliefs, needs, values and opinions in front of us and work through the complex problems of our times. Without information, we cannot see, understand or meaningfully discuss and resolve what is happening in our individual and communal lives. To explain this sense, some may say our business leaders, politicians and elected officials are somehow more corrupt, self-serving, clueless or arrogant than in the past. Others may want to attribute the cause to an increasingly addicted, suppressed or materialistic and uncaring population. I don’t hold to either of these beliefs. Instead, I think there are deeper, although not necessarily darker, forces at work.
The table at the beginning of this article shows one measure of these forces. Since the invention of the integrated circuit or computer chip, our society has been able to double the amount of information our computers can process and store about every 18 months. Starting in 1980, if my computer has done the math right, our computers are 262,144 times more powerful now than in 1980. In the meantime, our brains haven’t evolved at all in their ability to process and store information. The table at the start of the article shows the explosive growth in internet searches in the last two years, an amazing 12.7 billion searches last December. Just one search can bring forth a huge amount of information. For example, if you google “city of Bellingham, WA”, you will get approximately 1,230,000 results. Now that is an information glut. Who can recite that many facts about Bellingham, let alone understand the articles, posts, reports, blogs, and web pages behind each result?
In short, we are experiencing an 'Information Tsunami.' By my definition, this is a series of disturbances caused when a large volume of information is rapidly forced into our societal consciousness. The consequences for our society are monumental. These disturbances have led to the following: individuals and the public in general are overwhelmed, forcing a much greater dependence on technical experts and specialists to make critical decisions. By default, the power of these technicians now extends into the policy levels. Government agencies and employees are overwhelmed, totally dependent on the government’s expanding yet under-performing information systems to do their jobs. And policy makers and elected officials are overwhelmed by the staggering complexity of our highly interdependent economic, environmental and social systems. Yet at the same time, they are thwarted by the inability of our information systems to collect, analyze and present meaningful results. An information glut is like gasoline, it can add to the flames, but it can’t put out the fire.
This dark scenario leads to more separation and isolation between the public, government service providers, and policy makers. Communication barriers grow, mutual understanding, collaboration, and trust disappear. Democracy ends. Sadly, we once had interpreters of the information about society’s complexities and problems. Many were journalists, writers and editors who were held in high regard. Now, The Press as we knew it is gone. The Press used to sort through the intentional and accidental misinformation that surrounded us, and keep us informed. And these rescuers are now also victims of the internet.
We are in a new reality and old solutions don’t apply. Insanity - that is, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results - will not solve this problem. Solutions for this new reality will require new approaches. With this incredible growth, most of us are groping our way through the internet heap, searching for what we need. We are in the midst of this tsunami and the answers are not visible, the consequences are not pleasant.
New approaches require new principles and concepts. Our culture has shown time and again we can overcome adversity. To help make sense of the tsunami and its consequences, four principles stand out initially. These principles will help determine what is important to us both individually, and as a society.
The table at the beginning of this article shows one measure of these forces. Since the invention of the integrated circuit or computer chip, our society has been able to double the amount of information our computers can process and store about every 18 months. Starting in 1980, if my computer has done the math right, our computers are 262,144 times more powerful now than in 1980. In the meantime, our brains haven’t evolved at all in their ability to process and store information. The table at the start of the article shows the explosive growth in internet searches in the last two years, an amazing 12.7 billion searches last December. Just one search can bring forth a huge amount of information. For example, if you google “city of Bellingham, WA”, you will get approximately 1,230,000 results. Now that is an information glut. Who can recite that many facts about Bellingham, let alone understand the articles, posts, reports, blogs, and web pages behind each result?
In short, we are experiencing an 'Information Tsunami.' By my definition, this is a series of disturbances caused when a large volume of information is rapidly forced into our societal consciousness. The consequences for our society are monumental. These disturbances have led to the following: individuals and the public in general are overwhelmed, forcing a much greater dependence on technical experts and specialists to make critical decisions. By default, the power of these technicians now extends into the policy levels. Government agencies and employees are overwhelmed, totally dependent on the government’s expanding yet under-performing information systems to do their jobs. And policy makers and elected officials are overwhelmed by the staggering complexity of our highly interdependent economic, environmental and social systems. Yet at the same time, they are thwarted by the inability of our information systems to collect, analyze and present meaningful results. An information glut is like gasoline, it can add to the flames, but it can’t put out the fire.
This dark scenario leads to more separation and isolation between the public, government service providers, and policy makers. Communication barriers grow, mutual understanding, collaboration, and trust disappear. Democracy ends. Sadly, we once had interpreters of the information about society’s complexities and problems. Many were journalists, writers and editors who were held in high regard. Now, The Press as we knew it is gone. The Press used to sort through the intentional and accidental misinformation that surrounded us, and keep us informed. And these rescuers are now also victims of the internet.
We are in a new reality and old solutions don’t apply. Insanity - that is, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results - will not solve this problem. Solutions for this new reality will require new approaches. With this incredible growth, most of us are groping our way through the internet heap, searching for what we need. We are in the midst of this tsunami and the answers are not visible, the consequences are not pleasant.
New approaches require new principles and concepts. Our culture has shown time and again we can overcome adversity. To help make sense of the tsunami and its consequences, four principles stand out initially. These principles will help determine what is important to us both individually, and as a society.
Accept reality, we are all in this together: the internet has shown we are all connected on this planet. This is a fact. Our information systems, food supply, physical health and economies are all interlocked. This interdependence will require new attitudes about collaborative problem solving. None of us can know what the solutions will be, but we each can establish a frame of mind to work together.Applying these principles is a new way to become aware. They will allow us to see what has happened, develop a new discourse and take ownership and responsibility for our contributions. After all, we are the creators of our future.
Encourage diversity, one solution doesn’t fit all: we are both individuals and social beings. Our creativity as humans shows up in both forms. We can accept that some solutions and endeavors are best attained by individuals, while others require the input of a whole society. Understanding and acknowledging that difference will allow us to apply our best thinking to the larger set of problems we have.
Go for the Gold, the rewards will come: Americans are among the most generous people in history. We can apply that generosity to how we work together. With few exceptions, the problems our society has are far greater than any one person could have created. So the blame game can be dropped from our rhetoric. We can give our ideas and energy instead to our mutual efforts.
Own what we create, it will be our future: recognize that what we do and build in this world reflects our inner selves and culture. That recognition gives us the power to compare the results of our efforts to our personal and societal values. It is then possible to filter out and discard the things that don’t work for us.
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