― Jacques Ellul, The Technological Society
― Jacques Ellul, The Technological Society
(W)e have been rather slow in recognizing that in solving the information problem, we created a new problem never experienced before: information glut, incoherence, and meaninglessness. … Like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, we are awash in information, without even a broom to help us get rid of it. The tie between information and human purpose has been severed. … it comes indiscriminately, whether asked for or not, directed at no one in particular, in enormous volume, at high speeds, disconnected from meaning and import. It comes unquestioned and uncombined, and we do not have, as (poet Edna St. Vincent) Millay said, a loom to weave it all into fabric.
- Neil Postman, Science and the Story that We Need, 1997
One of the advantages of aliens in Sci-Fi is that they can provide such an outside perspective of humanity. I wish it was utilized more and to greater effect. It's rather interesting. Sadly most Sci-Fi either is so out there that humanity seems to dull in comparison and you'd not waste a thought reflecting on it, or it lacks peaceful interactions and alien perspectives.