CNN.com has an article called 'Age of information overload' which writes:
"Books are being scanned to make them searchable on the Internet. Television broadcasts are being recorded and archived for online posterity. Radio shows, too, are getting their digital conversion -- to podcasts.
With a few keystrokes, we'll soon be able to tap much of the world's knowledge. And we'll do it from nearly anywhere -- already, newer iPods can carry all your music, digital photos and such TV classics as "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" along with more contemporary prime-time fare.
Will all this instantly accessible information make us much smarter, or simply more stressed? When can we break to think, absorb and ponder all this data?
"People are already struggling and feeling like they need to keep up with the variety of information sources they already have," said David Greenfield, a psychologist who wrote "Virtual Addiction." "There are upper limits to how much we can manage.""
As I previously wrote about the drive to place all human knowledge on the web (Google's aim), coupled with always-on access: how will this affect us? Will it be too much? We are known to be social creatures, yet is it our destiny to be connected to each other all the time.
What is information anyway: it is not wisdom. What good is information without the human spirit and depth of understanding to wield it?
I'll be absent for a good week at least - will be in Lisbon having a break.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL - MAY 2006 BE KIND TO EVERYONE
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