http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8&feature=player_embedded
I find the statistics in this video both awesome and alarming. While I fully embrace technology and the use of social media I have to wonder if having so much information power at our finger tips is hindering free thought? Is this a blessing or a burden? I am constantly torn between loving my cell phone and wondering how I ever lived without it..... and burying it in the yard.
Or is the upswing in information technology contributing to free thought and encouraging the collaboration of original ideas by placing the control of information in the hand of everyone rather than the hands of the few.
For this purpose the evolution of technology cannot be argued against, but my concern comes from the perspective that there may come a time when we as people reach a point of information overload. It has been surmised that the act of multi-tasking has been shown to lower i.q. With this absolute bombardement of information around the clock it is impossible to avoid having to multi-task in information processing alone. Check out this article by the Chicago Tribune for more info on the effects of multitasking.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-08-10/news/ct-oped-0811-multitask-20100810_1_iqs-study-information-overload
The progression will be interesting to watch, and while I am on board and embrace technology and it's infinite uses, I also have the privelage of coming from a world free of mainstream access to technology, web 2.0, social media, and cell phones. There are times where my daily tasks seem easier to contend with because of something as simple as my cell phone, but there are other times when it seems to create complications. This I know.............I am more at ease and relaxed when my phone is OFF.
Very interesting response! It showed some deep reflecting and that makes me happy. That being said, yes we do suffer from information overload. And we do sometimes pay the price for how QUICKLY info is disseminated over the NET (think of the celebrities that mess up and how it is posted on twitter or somewhere else almost instantaneously!). But here's the thing - this ever-increasing influx of info is NOT going away, but only increasing. Therefore, as school librarians, we are obligated to teach students to be info (and media) literate! This is the world we live in and we have to teach them how to navigate it and how to separate the truth from opinion and falsehoods.
ReplyDeleteThe article you referred to, in my humble opinion, generalizes too much. Personally, I work much, much better when I am multitasking. There is a kernel of truth, I think, in his statement: "Because everything is searchable, we believe everything is worth searching. We pile up the options, and we paralyze ourselves."...and thereby have a hard time making decisions. I have seen that happen in my own life! Did you ever try to book a trip online? OMG, I could spend hours looking at options and then not be able to make a decision because I am overwhelmed and confused!!!! And I agree, it is sometimes so WONDERFUL to turn off the cell phone, shut down the computer, and shut down all of the clutter. :)