Paradigm Shift - Information to Participation
The Information Age is moving into our history books to make room for the quickly approaching Participation Age.
The Information Age, like any other period in history, doesn't have a firm starting point. I tend to agree with Wikipedia that it started with the invent of the telegraph/telephone, since, for the first time in history, people were able to instantly connect and share ideas remotely. To fully appreciate the affect that must of had on society try and put yourself back in the 1800's. Instead of communicating through snail mail or face to face, which requires time and proximity respectively, people were suddenly able to communicate instantly over large distances. Productivity soared because of these fundamental changes.
With advances in technology information became more abundant with less effort.
Today we have virtually limitless information at our fingertips within seconds. This information overload is shifting us into a different paradigm. We're finding out that there is no technological substitution for the collection of human minds. No technology, without the help of human input, is able to make sense of the tons of information thrown into our lives better than groups of people all adding their little piece to the puzzle.
Wikipedia is a great example of this. In less than five years it's grown bigger than the biggest written Encyclopedias! And it can only be done collectively.
The blogosphere - aka Social Media - is another great example. With the creation of blogs anybody with access to the internet has the ability to publish their opinions freely and have the world and their audience. Collectively, with help from resources like Technorati, we're able to get a clear vision on what is happening in the world.
Case in point, we're embarking on a new era of connectedness, quickly making headway into uncharted waters. Here's the exciting part, we've only begun to change currents.
It's my belief that technology is helping to shorten the time it takes for civilization to switch paradigms. If the Information Age lasted 150-200 years expect the Participation Age to last no more that 100 years. This is exciting to me because with the help of modern medicine I have the ability to potentially live through an entire age in history.
This is an exciting time to be alive. Can you feel the energy!?!
The Information Age, like any other period in history, doesn't have a firm starting point. I tend to agree with Wikipedia that it started with the invent of the telegraph/telephone, since, for the first time in history, people were able to instantly connect and share ideas remotely. To fully appreciate the affect that must of had on society try and put yourself back in the 1800's. Instead of communicating through snail mail or face to face, which requires time and proximity respectively, people were suddenly able to communicate instantly over large distances. Productivity soared because of these fundamental changes.
With advances in technology information became more abundant with less effort.
Today we have virtually limitless information at our fingertips within seconds. This information overload is shifting us into a different paradigm. We're finding out that there is no technological substitution for the collection of human minds. No technology, without the help of human input, is able to make sense of the tons of information thrown into our lives better than groups of people all adding their little piece to the puzzle.
Wikipedia is a great example of this. In less than five years it's grown bigger than the biggest written Encyclopedias! And it can only be done collectively.
The blogosphere - aka Social Media - is another great example. With the creation of blogs anybody with access to the internet has the ability to publish their opinions freely and have the world and their audience. Collectively, with help from resources like Technorati, we're able to get a clear vision on what is happening in the world.
Case in point, we're embarking on a new era of connectedness, quickly making headway into uncharted waters. Here's the exciting part, we've only begun to change currents.
It's my belief that technology is helping to shorten the time it takes for civilization to switch paradigms. If the Information Age lasted 150-200 years expect the Participation Age to last no more that 100 years. This is exciting to me because with the help of modern medicine I have the ability to potentially live through an entire age in history.
This is an exciting time to be alive. Can you feel the energy!?!
posted by Drew at 6:05:00 PM
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