Cult of Information

Good information that reminds us that computers think much differently than humans. They use information and process it in structured binary codes which can produce not only mathematics, but replicas of music, art and video. So it appears that robots and thinking based on bits of information is the same as humans. But what Rozak convincingly employs is that the human brain is wired much differently. In this he shows that the human mind gains insight from various nonstructured areas that come together where we gain flashes of insight with much unpredictability, while computer random chips do the very opposite by reducing the preformulated bits of information, restricting one of multiple answers. So there is a tremendous difference in the wiring of the human mind and the computer processor, the human far more complex and superior. What Roszak brings out is the loss of clarity and distinction of such differences and the commercialism and profit in elevating the idea that information is the same as human thinking. And yet it is human ideas that act as prerequisite for the shaping of the information to fit a particular paradigm. Ideas create information, not the other way around. Every fact grows from an idea; it is the answer to a question we could not ask in the first place if an idea had not been invented which isolated some portion of the world, make it important, focused our attention, and stimulated inquiry. p. 105 What happens then, when we blur the distinction between ideas and information and teach children that information processing is the basis of thought? Or when we set about building an "information economy:" which spends more and more of its resources accumulating and processing facts? For one thing, we buy even deeper the substructures of ideas on which information stands, placing them further from critical reflection. For example, we begin to pay more attention to "economic indicators" - which are always convenient, simple-looking numbers - than to the assumptions about work, wealth, and well-being which underlie economic policy. Indeed, our orthodox economic science is awash in a flood of statistical figments that server mainly to obfuscate basic questions of value, purpose and justice. What contribution has the computer make to this situation? It has raised the flood level, pouring out misleading and distracting information from every government agency and corporate boardroom. but even more ironically, the hard focus on information which the computer encourages must in time have the effect of crowding out new ideas, which are the intellectual source that generates facts. In the long run, no ideas, no information." pp. 109-107 Now the book goes into the history of computers and is somewhat outdated, published in the mid 1980's and a lot has changed since then, however this does not take away from the pervious history of computer technology and the message of major differences between computer logic compared to human insight, as

Roszak bursts the bubble of marketing hype that touts information technology as an all-powerful force that can do anything for business or society. Those of us involved in consulting, communications, product development and CRM can benefit from this perspective, so that we do not overpromise. This neo-luddite is not opposed to technology, but he wants us to know its limitations and its effect on our humanity. The book was prescient when it was written a decade ago, and today its lessons seem all the more important. My only criticism is I wish the author would offer constructive suggestions for those of us who have to make decisions on information technology. He rips down our facade, but does not tell us how to rebuild.

This book is a thoughtful and thought-provoking examination of both the meaning of and the consequences associated with the rising computer information cult within contemporary society. Roszak is a skilled writer and an even more perceptive thinker. He quickly disposes of the contemporary idea equating data or information, on the one hand, with knowledge and wisdom, on the other hand. He despairs of the notion that technological progress is an unalloyed blessing, and provides a lot of supporting documentation illustrating that for all those capabilities we gain through the use of digital technology, for example, we also lose important capabilities and perspectives. According to Roszak, we have now come to almost rely on exclusively rational,"logical", and quantifiable methods of understanding everything around us, often to the detriment of ignoring more traditional and time-honored methods of knowing. This, in turn, leads to a very narrow perspective of how it is that the world operates, one devoid of anything not quantitative, anything comprised of more "qualitative" means of observation. Thus, to the digitally oriented logical and rational mind, anything not disposed to undertanding through calculation and the scientific method simply is not real. Furthermore, he shows us, such digital computing techniques creates as many problems as it solves. He fears for good reason that we are falling into a hyperbolized and superficial culture where we have come to completely depend on scientific rationalism as it is depicted by the media, and that this creates a conundrum we cannot escape from, since many of the problems associated with modern society stem from this increasingly exlusively scientific and rational approach toward problem-solving. As with other contemporary critics of the new Digital Intelligence cult like social critic Neil Postman, Roszak argues for a more comprehensive perspective , one that places the tools of computer technology at the behest of a more broad-based intelligence, one that recognizes that there is a whole range of ways of knowing and understanding that those contained in programming code. This is a provocative and thought-indicing book. I enjoyed and learned from it, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys watching a superior intellect at work, and who also appreciated the thread of a finely-hewn intellectual argument. Enjoy!

Mr. Roszak does a fine job in this book of showing the problems with the cult of information/computers. He points out the many fine things they do and how those are ignored in favor of the hyperbole favored by the computer fanatics. He has obviously studied the topic in depth and shows all the flawed projections, assumptions and ideas of the Minskys of the world. His book is especially useful at refuting claims about AI and showing where abuses can occur with the system. His questioning about the use of computers in schools is very relevant and very well thought-out. His history of the computer itself is also interesting, something rarely covered in other sources. The only complaint I had with the book was that it is fairly dated - he did little revision of the 1986 edition and there are points where this is obvious. His point though is as relevant as it was when the book first arrived 22 years ago and very few of his ideas have been proven wrong - on the other hand the AI-hypers look sillier and sillier. Definitely worth reading.

As a sociologist and as a fervent supporter of the "true art of thinking", the text fast became for me a sign that today's 'thinkers' are not allowing the information society to internalize itself without some resistance. Roszak points out the glaring inconsistencies of the "wave of the future", in that computer technology, while often useful, is not the cure for all our ills; it cannot hope to equal or surpass the true, human process of ideation, theory construction, and the very social act of learning. I thank Roszak for making clear in a "Neo-Luddite" fashion that the easy answers are not always the best. Computer technology, he states, is a solution in search of a problem; to my mind, this can do naught but generate problems in a myriad of forms. A clear, thorough thinker, Roszak has given us food for thought...and we'd better sit down to our meal.