The Explosion Of Information

It always amazes me how much information is contained on the internet everytime I embark on researching a particular topic. There's more than ample information on most topics about the world. And the rate at which this information is growing is non-linear.

I read a post recently from businesswire about a report by the International Data Corporation(IDC) forecasting that:

The amount of data created over the next three years will be more than the data created over the past 30 years, and the world will create more than three times the data over the next five years than it did in the previous five.
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This is a bit mind blowing. That's a ton of data and keeping up with the latest in any field will be quite impossible without the aid of technology. Interestingly, technology is also the main driver of this explosion of information. One of the ways is through the growth and access of internet usage.

Although, much of this information may not be valuable in a traditional sense. But on an overview, I believe it's a good thing because we will have diverse viewpoints on any given topic and little to no unnecessary 'information gatekeepers'.

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Positive And Negative Impacts

As much as it is a good thing in a general sense, it is not all rosy in the information explosion landscape. There are significant challenges that comes with it. The hard task of differentiating what's true and what is not for example. I've realised that just because a particular statement is sensible doesn't always mean it is true!

I see the main positive as the freedom for more people to create and consume information based on their disposition.
Each person is like a book with their own unique story. By putting them all together, we can create an encyclopedia of life. And get a clearer picture of things. Learning something new or solving difficult problems? This will help!

The enhancement of communication and collaboration with others is another positive impact that can be observed.

With more and faster ways to share and exchange data, we can build communities and connect with people across distances and boundaries, foster dialogue and participation or coordinate actions and efforts towards a shared objective.

For example, participating in social movements and causes that contribute to global development and peace. There's always power in numbers.

Then there's increased productivity and efficiency through optimisation. As more effective tools are developed to sift through all the information and do tasks with precision or in a more streamlined process.

On the same breath, more learning material for Artifical Intelligence(AI) and related technologies.

On the negatives front, I see information overload as the main one. Meaning we're unintentionally exposed to more information than we can handle or process effectively. This can lead to a mental Denial of Service(Dos) so to speak, making it quite hard for us to mentally function properly.

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For example, we can easily feel overwhelmed by the amount of opinions that we encounter online or struggle to find relevant information among the noise. Information distraction will also be evident, bringing up the challenge to focus on important priorities.

Security is another negative impact, potentially a big one. Malicious actors or entities will be be able to gain unauthorised access or misuse more data when it is vulnerable.

There could be more identity theft or fraud. More personal or financial data could be stolen or leaked. Business or government data compromised. Basically, there's more chance of the digital world put on its knees when key centralized structures are hacked or hijacked.

Final Thoughts

I think a way to cope with the explosion of information is to develop data literacy. This is the ability to understand, use, and communicate data effectively.

If we're more aware and critical of the information sources, its forms and impact, then we will be able to prevent information overload and distractions. Also, understanding how to use data is important. Because it will help improve our skills in finding and interpreting all kinds of it.


Thanks for reading!! Share your thoughts below on the comments.