ASIA PACIFIC COLLEGE OF ADVANCED STUDIES

A.H. Banzon St., Ibayo, City of Balanga, Bataan

COLLEGE DEPARTMENT

GEC STS ​– BEED/BSED 3

1​st​ Semester AY 2020-2021
LECTURE 9

INFORMATION SOCIETY

Information

❖ A word is a combination of sounds that represents something. It is this significance

which makes words distinct from just any kind of vocal utterance. Words are made up
of sounds and yet they transmit something more significant. They transmit messages.
The words are “informed” because they carry “information” (​Chaisson, 2006;
Ben-Naim, 2015​).

The role of Language

❖ In the human quest for understanding the natural world, the ability to name and classify
objects found in nature was seen as a first step in knowing. Thus, the scientific search
for truth early on recognized the usefulness of ​language and the ability it gave to make
sense of nature.
❖ This kind of knowing sprang from the Greek fascination and wonder at the power of
words and language. How is it possible that one’s idea can simultaneously exist in
his/her mind and in another’s? How is it possible that human beings can communicate
through words and thus form a community? Does the power of the communicated word
come from the speaker, who is the thinker and the source, or from the listener, who is
the recipient of the communication?
❖ Science, from the Latin word ​scire (meaning to know), is one kind of knowledge the
Greeks wanted to understand.
❖ The idea of comprehending words as more than just combinations of sounds led the
Greeks to seek out the principles of everyday language.
❖ The first philosophers, as they thrashed about groping for and seeking a unifying
principle in nature, sometimes hit upon things such as fire or water. But they believed
that something was common in all of these. The many seemingly different things in the
natural world must have a unifying factor. There was an inside to be “understood”.
They sought for this meta phusis, literally meaning “after nature” ​(De Chardin, 1965​)
❖ Plato​’s principle of “One and the Many” refers to the underlying unity among diverse
beings in the natural world. For Plato, there is a common intrinsic nature shared by
different objects, which determines their real sense. Biologists devised a way to
illustrate this principle using a system differentiating between genus and species. Many
species belong in one genus.
❖ In the 21st century, we are aware more than ever that there is rich diversity in nature,
which technology has allowed us to discover (​BANWA Natural Science, 2008​)

MATHEMATICS AS THE LANGUAGE OF NATURE

❖ A more accurate statement is: Since people have discovered the laws and language of
nature, they can develop technology that uses these laws and language for their benefit.
This language is, of course, mathematics, the great contribution of Isaac Newton.
❖ Nature can be understood because it speaks in the language of mathematics and the
human brain, to a certain extent, can comprehend this language (​Weigner, 1960​).
Unfortunately, this fact is not always appreciated.

TECHNOLOGICAL WORLDS

❖ Even in ancient times, Western thinkers harnessed the forces of nature after
understanding them better. Lost in antiquity is the first sailing vessel that worked
through the power of the wind.
❖ Similarly, it was never recorded when the early people realized that fire has its own
power and energy. Not all early inventions are lost in time, however. Hero of
Alexandria, for instance, would invent a primitive steam engine in the first century
(​Paul Davies, 1990​)

THE PRINTING PRESS

❖ The power of the ​eidos​, or idea, would be witnessed in the succeeding centuries of
development in the West.
❖ Throughout this dark period, the importance of the word-----the power to be informed
as a human being-- led to the transmission of ideas through hand-copying. From this
manual action would arise the technology that would transform cultures---the printing
press.
❖ The development of the printing press, which may be regarded as the beginning of a
true revolution, could be dated to the 15th century. Through this technology, the
ancient Greek idea that knowledge should be shared and communicated among humans
would actually be pressed on a scale unimagined by its thinkers.
❖ Using the printing press, people on different sides of the world could share their
thoughts and ideas with each other, forming communities of thinkers across space and
time (​Connell, 1958​)
❖ This technological invention allowed words and scientific ideas to establish a view of
nature anchored in scholarly works and studies.
❖ In the age of information, the transmission of ideas has undergone changes. Meaning
and depth are no longer conveyed strictly by rhetoric but rather by its electronic
replacement, the digital signal or digit. Such a digital world is a direct offspring of the
progressing world of technology built upon the many advances in science (​Toffler,
1984​).

THE WORLD WIDE WEB

❖ The ​World Wide Web ​is another way to describe the Internet, which is a network of
computers which are connected and that share information and allow communication
around the world.
❖ A more modern example of technology feeding upon itself is the 20th century tour de
force: the World Wide Web through the internet. ​Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented it as a
way of addressing data processing and information sharing needs among scientists for
the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).
❖ CERNS’s atoms smasher a huge amount of scientific data every second. It thus
required better data analyzers to work on the gathered information in coordination with
each other.
❖ While the telegraph and telephone had allowed the transmission of information to
transcend physical boundaries, processing a veritable ocean and mountain of scientific
data generated by the atom smasher needed a new medium.
❖ With the ease of sharing information at present, its reliability becomes compromised.
Anyone with a connection to other people can produce contents which are showing
half-truths or even lies, giving rise to disinformation.
❖ Meanwhile, the easy access to personal information makes one susceptible to online
predation, identity theft, and scamming, among others. Thus, it pays to be vigilant in
utilizing these modern devices at all times.
❖ The technology applied when a sailor up a piece of cloth to catch the wind is the same
one that produces modern machines and devices, albeit less complex.

The Impact of Social Media on Our Lives

❖ Living in the present digital age, social media has become a ubiquitous part of
everyday life. It has been said that one of the chief benefits of social media is
communication. It connects people easily with just a click or two.
❖ Technology upgrades more and more every single passing day, and social media does
as much, too.

Communication and Connection

❖ A few years ago, before social media became widespread all over the world, trying to
communicate with people from afar or to stay connected with friends from high school
was almost impossible. Today, communication and connection are a piece of cake.
❖ However, this boundless communication and connection triggers a false sense of
connection and belongingness. Because people can easily talk to just about anyone on
the internet via social media, people tend to have vague, shallow relationships with
others, taking for granted the more meaningful connections.

Entertainment

❖ Most people almost merely use social media for entertainment. As said, social media
can now do far more than communication and connection. Social media is no longer
just a web-based platform to chat, call, or video-call family and friends.

Business

❖ Social media gives a great deal of benefits in marketing, positively affecting a

country’s economy. With a few YouTube views, Facebook likes, and twitter followers,
any business can boom. It gives to entrepreneurs a new means of managing business
online and off. It effectively introduces and promotes business to buyers.

Freedom of Expression

❖ Social media has always been and will always be viewed as a platform for expression,
where all thoughts, opinions, and ideas are shared. Expression helps individuals,
teenagers in particular, to utter emotions rather than pent them all up by themselves.

In the future

❖ Social media is invented with the help of technology, and technology, as many people
know, has become a springboard to the invention of almost all other digital age
inventions that made life much easier and more meaningful.

References:

a. Science, Technology, and Society by Daniel Joseph McNamara, SJ, Vida Mia
Valverde and Ramon Beleno III.
b. https://www.slideshare.net/jainacruz/the-impact-of-social-media-on-our-lives