Information Overload.

Before I start on my actual blog, I would just like to say that the movie was awesome, and also that i'm loving how we keep breaking down our literature for this semester. Initially, I read Bonhoeffer for the class assignment. Then, I read it again with the perspective lens of finding the meaning of life through Bonhoeffers pages, so I could use that info in my larger paper. Now I'm reading through one more time with the perspective of finding grace for my final essay. It's like picking meat off of a chicken bone. Except it takes years to get to the bone under all the meat.

Now for my actual blog. As I was reading through the first couple pages of Lyotard, I was reminded of what Dr. Talmage said at the beginning of class on Tuesday. He said that this piece of literature has the potential for the most practical application in our daily lives. Then I read the first couple of pages, and I was reminded of this  commerical from a couple of years ago.

http://youtu.be/NHmzzLt8WFA

That commercial plus this passage from Lyotard has inspired me for my blog:                

And it is fair to say that for the last forty years the "Leading" sciences and technologies have to do with language: Phonology and theories of linguistics, ...These technological transformations can be expected to have a considerable impact on knowledge. Its two principle functions- research and the transmission of acquired learning- are already feeling the effect, or will in the future. With respect to the first function (of knowledge), genetics provides an example that is accessible to the layman: it owes its theoretical paradigm to cybernetics. ... As for the second function, it is common knowledge that the miniaturization and commercialization of machines is already changing the way in which learning is acquired, classified, made available, and exploited.It is reasonable to suppose that the proliferation of information-processing machines is having, and will continue to have, as much of an effect on the circulation of learning as did advancements  in human circulation (transportation systems) and later in the sounds and visual images (the media)."

Long passage, but it got me thinking. It's saying that the advancement of communication has quickly expanded the transmission of learning. He referenced to quickened transportation, such as the improved usage of automobiles and also referenced media such as television or movies. I wonder how after a couple of decades of this novel how Lyotard saw the changes in technology advancing our communication. At the time of his death in 1998, he had seen the emerging of the internet, cellphones, and other advancements in communication.

I wonder how he would react to the technology of today. We take most of it for granted, but look at the expansion of communication and knowledge we have today. Decades ago, students would have to go the library. Now... You go on Google and find anything you need to know about any subject. You have online resources and libraries to guide you on your quest for truth. You have it all on a computer far surpassing the technology of what Lyotard had. We have computers that fit in our laps! Not even mentioning the hand-held computers we call cell-phones, which allow us to find information at absolutely any time. At the touch of a button, one can connect with anyone in the world and talk, and see their face! The communication that we experience today is remarkable and allows us to find knowledge and wisdom much easier than only a short time ago.

Commented on Nick Hampton's "Education".