Modern culture is a classic example of “more is less.” The more detail you’re exposed to, the less room there is in your head, or your soul, to reflect, understand or make sense of anything. You’d be hard-pressed to argue that any of this information has made people feel particularly wise … The moral fabric of the world may have gone several inventions ago.
Predictor: McKibben, Bill
Prediction, in context:In a 1994 article for The Modesto Bee, Rusty Coats, interviews Bill McKibben, author of “The Age of Missing Information.” Coats writes: ”Bill McKibben, the author of ‘The Age of Missing Information,’ believes people have been too busy splashing in the info-ocean to realize they’re drowning. ‘Modern culture is a classic example of “more is less,”‘ he said from his TV-free home in New York’s Adirondack Mountains. ‘The more detail you’re exposed to, the less room there is in your head, or your soul, to reflect, understand or make sense of anything. You’d be hard-pressed to argue that any of this information has made people feel particularly wise.’ For McKibbon, the quantity of information washing into homes obscures quality. Wisdom, he argues, comes from such low-tech sources as nature and neighbors. And these continue to survive. ‘As these information technologies progress, it’s interesting to see that no matter where you go, church is still available,’ McKibben said. ‘That seems significant. We still recognize a need for human community. And many best-selling books are “Care-for-your-soul” books. Part of us, at least, understands that we need things like quiet and reflectiveness – things that the communications blizzard blocks out.’ … [Prophecies of biology and technology merging] haunt McKibben, but not because he thinks our moral fabric is at stake. ‘The moral fabric of the world,’ he said, ‘may have gone several inventions ago.'”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Human-Machine Interaction
Name of publication: Modesto Bee
Title, headline, chapter name: Info-Culture Technology: Savior or Destroyer of Society?
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=9242440c133a8b4f8b92228020e63450...
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney