Sunday
Jan242010
Information deformation
Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 05:14PM OK, so I am probably the last person in the world to see this, but I really think there is some food for thought here.
Seems like an excellent argument for why we need "information professionals."
Reader Comments (5)
It seems we need to teach our students to become information gatherers....if we can only slow them down!!
It makes me wonder of it's a matter of desensitization. Does watching too much violence in movies, etc. make real violence seem less, um... violent? Do you become less afraid of spiders if you are forced to be around spiders? Does too much information eventually seem less informative?
Makes me think of teacher who believe it is brain-friendly to cover their schoolroom walls with posters and banners and pictures and reports and quotes and vocabulary words and ... I think when that is the case, everything sort of just disappears; we become oblivious.
BF
@ Doug
You've gotta love Bill Farren's videos @ ed4wb.org. He really does do a nice job putting them together. Perhaps more than anything we need to teach critical thinking skills along with problem solving skills. In an online Catholic Literature class last night a discussion came up about whether or not educated people were more dangerous. (We were reading - G.K. Chesterton's "The Man Who Was Thursday"). The students concluded an educated person is much more dangerous because knowledge brings power. It might be safe to say in an information age knowing how to sift and connect the information actually provides power. We're offered a constant bill of goods via various media sources with the underlying theme that if we buy their product our lives will be better and our souls happier. How do we really help our students avoid the "Middle Class Trap" that a bigger brighter pile of crap will make you happier. We mortgage our futures to keep up with the Joneses and then sit around expecting a bailout. Sorry to rant but I really enjoy his video and I think I'll share it with my personal finance class tomorrow.
Doug,
I may be slowing down as well, I haven't seen the clip before either.
But some nice stuff here! Just finished reading something at the Bygone Bureau titled Keywords: Anger <http://bygonebureau.com/2010/01/22/keywords-anger/> that discusses a similar topic.
I agree with the the video, we do (and our kids) often take the quickest, easiest route and I think it is having an impact on society. And now for the ironic question - Do we have time to work on a long-term solution or is there a quick fix?
Just some ramblings on what is becoming a very long afternoon!
glennw
Hi Joan,
Yes, the need for speed seems a hallmark of today's kids. Probably too many adults as well. Getting people to take time to reflect is something educators perhaps should spend more time on.
Thanks for the comment,
Doug
Hi Bob,
Maybe we all adopt coping mechanisms for dealing with "info-glut" as somebody calls it.
I don't think I would ever become de-sensitized to spiders. Not a big fan.
Doug
Hi Charlie,
I'd be interested in hearing how your class reacts to the video.
Great questions for all of us - Does more money/information/education make us happier/dangerous/competent.
Keep ranting and now I have to find that short story!
Doug
Glenn,
Your comment and the article you mentioned make me so appreciative of the high quality of people I have commenting on my blog.
Of course, no kitties are ever harmed in the making of it.
Doug