Society Information Is the Power

¶ … Society

Information is the Power for the Future

Technology is a two-edged sword and civilization is the hostage. Information gives us the ability to control technology and use it for the good of mankind, but information is only as good as its source. The Internet is a huge network of computers controlled by human beings, all of them fallible. The sheer power of the information readily available on the Internet is awesome, but it is like alphabet soup, and the information which is usable may only be the cupful of letter shaped noodles in that huge cauldron. The key to using the information available is sifting out the sand leaving only the gold nuggets of truth.

Access to information is the key to government by the people and for the people. The invention of the movable type printing press began the process of creating a literate world, and the Internet offers the most powerful tool ever created towards that end. Human beings can now add immense resources to their own brain power in the form of documents which store information we would otherwise forget.(Hayakawa, Dr. S.I. 1935) In addition, the processing power of computers offers the advantage of being able to analyze data in every way imaginable.

In order to really create the new information society, the government must make as much information as possible available publicly on the net. It also need to be searchable and well organized by tasks. The communication needs to be two way for it to provide the best possible benefits. In this way, the public can stay informed on all aspects which interest them. Government programs can become more successful with higher participation due to the availability of information.

In addition to this, information technology can provide us with better protection for life and property. It is also, perhaps, the only way to combat the possibilities of terrorism, which is much more dangerous with the technology for mass murder so readily available. The Patriot Act may take things a little too far, but some loss of personal privacy is a small price to pay for relative safety. This technology provides so many benefits to society that it should actually be protected. The availability of the Internet prevented a coup in Russia in 1991 (Peters, Katherine McIntyre 1999) and helped to bring down the Berlin Wall. So many vital services would be crippled or even non-existent without this technology, due to the population size it serves. Social Security checks would be months behind if done manually. However, the other side of this coin is a gorgon's head: public information needs to be easily available while private personal information is protected as much as possible. In reality, information technology is a powerful tool to beat crime, terrorism and poverty, if we only wield that sword properly.

So what is the key? I say it is education, but not the kind we all think about with memorization and regurgitation. We need to teach our children to think, to make rational decisions, to behave ethically and to measure their actions by their effects. We need to train children to seek out the truth and how to know it when they find it. We need to teach them the have the courage and passion to use it. We must become a nation of life long learners, for knowledge will be the power of the future. It will be readily available to all, and useful to those who act upon it. Most of all we have to remember that power corrupts and information is power. The power to control information must never be taken form the people.

Barata, Kimberly and Cain, Piers. (2006). Information, Not Technology, is Essential to Accountability: Electronic Records and Public Sector Financial Management. Journal The Information Society. Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group