Overwhelmed by data and distracted by fantasy, our attention span could become reduced to the content-poor shards of an MTV video. We risk becoming mentally poorer, mistaking data for knowledge, distanced from wisdom and blind to both beauty and the terrors of intangible, felt existence.
Predictor: Heim, Michael
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Marcia Stepanek of Hearst Newspapers interviews scholars about their views of the expected impact of communications networks, quoting Michael Heim, a British philosopher. Stepanek writes: ”Philosophers are just starting to ask what happens to human consciousness in an on-screen world where reality is no longer tangible, where people can represent themselves any way they please – even dishonestly – and where a person’s full identity need never be disclosed … British philosopher Michael Heim voices concern that the seductive virtual realities of cyberspace will draw us away from the duties of real life, turning us into electronic voyeurs, seeking risk-free encounters in make-believe worlds. ‘Overwhelmed by data and distracted by fantasy, our attention span could become reduced to the content-poor shards of an MTV video,’ Heim says. ‘We risk becoming mentally poorer, mistaking data for knowledge, distanced from wisdom and blind to both beauty and the terrors of intangible, felt existence.'”
Date of prediction: March 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Social Withdrawal/Addiction
Name of publication: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Title, headline, chapter name: Scholars Try to Measure the Impact
Quote Type: Partial quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=4d4982e250143a106aa6b253c9a8834c&_docnum=1&wchp=dGLbVtz-lSlzV&_md5=13835f2a06be163720f7801f816c9185
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Garrison, Betty