"Naomi Alderman argues that one of the most useful things to know is the name of the era you're living in, and she proposes one for ours: the Information Crisis. In fact, the advent of digital media marks the third information crisis humans have lived through: the first came after the invention of writing; the second followed the printing press. These were periods of great social conflict and upheaval."
"Writing ushered in the Axial Age, the period between the eighth and third centuries BC, when many of the world's most influential religious figures and thinkers lived: Laozi, Buddha, Zoroaster, the Abrahamic prophets and the Greek philosophers. Gutenberg's printing press helped bring about the Reformation. While it is too early to know where the internet era will take us, in her new book, which she describes as a speculative historical project, Alderman suggests that those earlier crises offer clues."
The advent of digital media constitutes a third Information Crisis following the inventions of writing and the printing press, each provoking social conflict and upheaval. Writing enabled the Axial Age and allowed more complex, reflective thought by reducing reliance on memorisation. The printing press transformed relationships to truth and helped precipitate the Reformation. The internet is changing communication, culture, and political life in ways that echo earlier crises while remaining unpredictable in long-term effects. The shift involves transformations in literacy, oral versus literate cultures, and how digital interactions influence empathy and perceptions of other people.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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