Going Deeper

A temporal look at information’s impact on humanity’s development

There exists a school of thought in psychology, which is adamant that our concepts of what is “real” and what is not, or more rather their variations among different individuals, are a direct derivative of the information which we consume.

However, a statement like the one “Information determines our reality” is not entirely true. The difference is so subtle, that in order for the essence of this tremendous implication not to be lost – one must proceed, at least initially, from the wrong hypothesis. Let’s elevate our viewpoint on the chronological axis and partake from just a couple of historical references.

Then ancient Greeks, with all of their myths, legends, etc. so firmly believed that their few islands that they knew of were “the world”, that they referred to the world in this manner, in all the scripts. Nowhere, was there any implication that human beings existed elsewhere … Africa, New Zealand, nuh-uh. All of that peninsula there, all that they knew --- was all that was real to them.

The Aztecs of Mexico were the same way. However, they had bit more specific legend regarding unnatural phenomenon. They had a legend which told of a quarrel between two of Gods, both of equal stature. Whether they were brothers or not I can’t fully recall I wish I’d paid more attention in “South American Mythology 101”.

However the relationship of the two deities is not as important as the outcome of their quarrel, which says that one of them was banned from the heavenly realm and swore that one day he would come in from the sea and take revenge by destroying the world. Oh, yes – I believe the legend also told that he was a very pale color.

We can imagine how little resistance Cortez received upon his landing on the shores of Mexico, Most likely none. He was perceived as a God, come to take away everything dear to the Aztecs, themselves – peaceful people in nature. It is also safe to assume that the conquerors took advantage of this perceived superiority, which was granted to them from before they even set foot on Native lands.

Here it is eminent to expose the significance behind the obvious indulgence in the word “perceived” in the above paragraph. Information in of itself, does not determine our reality, but it’s the perceived implications which it has that influences our actions.

In the field of psychology there’s a tenet saying that “It’s not what happens that matters, but the way you react to it”. In essence – the two statements are equivalent. Just take, Jack for example – strolling through the forest on a warm summer day. Suddenly – a wolf jumps appears… and how does Jack react?

Well, he would react in the fashion of any one person in a frightening situation, but only because he’s been led to believe that such a situation is frightening, he perceives the wolf as danger. Had he not been exposed to such a viewpoint of the canine, he would have little reason to suspect it to be any different than his domesticated dog at home.

There are more examples, than time at my disposalto afford going into details, but generally speaking – a key ingredient in the art of trade throughout the ages, has been the access to some valuable information by the trader (what commodity is cheaply found somewhere and in deficit elsewhere) combined with their ability to boost the “perceived value” of that commodity, when a buyer’s exposed to it. That very ability is highly determined by the imagination of the tradesman – their ‘skill’ in employing it properly.

Suchkill, is actually the ground-breaking determinant in every situation which calls for the selection of a one certain item, among many others. For instance – how does a pretty girl get convinced that the man she’s chosen for her boyfriend is “the one” for her. Could it have something to do with his ability to demonstrate his value better than all the rest (through the process of “courtship”)?

So, there’s two key factors regarding information, that construct our reality and determine our actions: 1) the availability of distinctly different information about the world; and 2) the perceived value of such information

What does the Internet contribute to my improved condition?

The first from the two key factors mentioned above used to have a detrimental role in socio-economic conditions, worldwide, in all sorts of aspects. The Information SuperHighway daftly saw to it that such selective ignorance is no more.

As of now it is very probable to have a person from Indochina and one from the United States maintaining a steady communication, building a relationship … entirely made possible by the instant, unaffected by distance exchange of information – online. This newly exhibited function of information, has had such a progressive development that people even began to speak of “information overload”, as to where just a half a decade ago, a wireless telephone was a figment of science fiction writers’ imagination.

Salvation can be found… within! Within our own rational decisiveness as to what exactly matters to our positive condition and what doesn’t Just because something is “online” does not make it ‘scripture’. Just because someone said something and you understood it in a certain way, does not mean that there isn’t an alternative interpretation out there, which brings about more benefits… to you. When someone has a crystal-clear idea of the things they hold dear – their values, it’s not so difficult to distinguish all the “spam” thrown at us daily, from the really valuable nuggets, they used to miss and let them pass by before, before their belief system gained a solid enough shape.