Connecting the Dots

In reading Frank Schirrnacher's piece on The Age of Information, I realized that I feel like the informavore of which he speaks, constantly gobbling up huge amounts of information through all of my senses, thanks in great part to the technological innovation that makes those transfers possible. Then, walking around the California Science Center I happened upon a quote of Albert Szent-Gyorgyi: "Discovery consists in seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought." I'm sure plenty of people have thought about discovery this way, but I see the pool of human information as the dots in the "connect the dots" books I loved when I was little. From a seemingly random scattering of dots a picture would emerge. I'm dissatisfied that there aren't more people connecting the dots. To be sure, many people see different pictures inside the vast page of dots we have before us, and many discover patterns of dots that greatly enhance our understanding of our world and environment. But as we explore the nascent information age, not enough emphasis is placed on the discovery of the coherence between all of the dots.



I see in the dots the capacity of re-organizing a system that is so scattered that calling it organized would probably be a travesty. Nevertheless, the existing system, our world or environment, is a functioning system (whether it work's well or not is another matter), and there are many schemes of organization that are known and studied. However, there is little attention given to the scheme itself. Economists will dissect the economy and finance, industrialists do the same with industry, and so on. Each field of study is so specialized that rarely (although with increasing frequency thanks to increased access to information) do modern coherent system theories emerge. 


We live in a world that can achieve a great many things, and still, it does so in such limited ways. We never seem to meet our potential. Our sights aim high, but we rarely solve the greater problem of efficiency. As I connect the dots, I see the automation of information systems and the integration of data as a strong foundation for a new system that relies more on innovation and discovery. The obstacles to exploring these paths are many, and especially worrisome is that like all technology, discoveries and progress in these fields and endeavors can be used either as a unifying, socially just force, with its benefits extended to society, or it can be a tool for oppression. 


Integrated and intelligent information systems are a matter of study for national laboratories currently, but where they go from there is unknown. I'm dissatisfied that the concepts behind our information revolution are not readily taught except in higher education. The mechanics of our systems should be open and transparent and the information should flow freely. Like in the fields of economics or industry, where a lack of information always puts you at a disadvantage, so in our lives, the lack of information is what puts us at a disadvantage. With so many dots, it seems impossible to connect them all. We must discover the opportunities the Information Age is offering and if we can't figure out how to connect the dots ourselves, maybe  we can use the tools of our age, machines and computers, to get the job done. Our system works (for better or worse) so it is up to us to redesign a system that can do it better. We should be connecting the dots.