HAND- OUT IN GE- STS
LESSON 9. SPECIFIC ISSUES IN SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY
The Information Age
• Highly modernized, automated, data-driven, and technologically advanced- these
bests describe our society nowadays, as evidenced by how information could be
transferred or shared quickly.
• The different areas of society have been influenced tremendously such as communication,
economics, industry, health, and the environment.
• Despite our gains due to the growing development of information technology, the rapid
upgrade of information also has disadvantages.
• Life is accompanied by endless transmission of information that takes place within
and outside human body.
• Information is knowledge communicated or obtained concerning a specific fact or
circumstance; a very important tool for survival.
• The Information Age is defined as a “period starting the last quarter of the 20th
century when information became effortlessly accessible through publications and
through the management of information by computers and computer networks.”
• The means of conveying symbolic information (e.g., writing, math, other codes) among
humans has evolved with increasing speed.
• The Information Age is also called the Digital Age and the New Media Age because it
was associated with the development of computers.
• According to James R. Messenger who proposed the Theory of Information Age in 1982,
“the Information Age is a true new age based upon the interconnection of computers
via telecommunications, with these information systems operating on both a real-time and
as-needed basis.”
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• As man evolved, information and its dissemination has also evolved in many ways.
Eventually, we no longer kept them to ourselves; instead, we share them and manage
them in different means.
• Information got ahead of us. It started to grow at a rate we were unprepared to handle.
• In the present generation, information has turned out to be a commodity, an
overdeveloped product, mass- produced, and unspecialized. Soon, we become
overloaded with it.
• Information is a very important tool that helps improve our way of life. One thing is
for sure, the Information Age will continue to move forward and far greater than our minds
could imagine.
Some Facts on The Information Age
• Information must compete. There is a need for information to stand out and be
recognized in the increasing clutter.
• Newer is equated with truer. We forgot the truth that any fact or value can endure.
• Selection is a viewpoint. Choose multiple sources for your information if you want to
receive a more balanced view of reality.
• The media sells what the culture buys. In other words, information is driven by cultural
priorities.
• The early word gets the perm. The first media channel to expose an issue often
defines the context, terms, and attitudes surrounding it.
• You are what you eat and so is your brain. Do not draw conclusions unless all ideas
and information are presented to you.
• Anything in great demand will be counterfeited. The demand for incredible
knowledge, scandals, and secrets is ever-present; hence, many events are fabricated by
tabloids, publicists, or other agents of information fraud.
• Ideas are seen as controversial. It is almost certainly impossible to make any assertion
that will not find some supporters and some detractors.
• Undead information walks ever on. Rumors, lies, disinformation, and gossips never truly
die down. They persist and continue to circulate.
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• Media presence creates the story. People behave much differently from the way they
would if being filmed when the media are present, especially film news or television media.
• The medium selects the message. Television is mainly pictorial, partially aural, and
slightly textual, so visual stories are emphasized: fires, chases, and disasters.
• The whole truth is a pursuit. The information that reaches us is usually selected, verbally
charged, filtered, slanted, and sometimes, fabricated. What is neglected is often even
more important than what is included.
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