4 ms·
I call what you’re describing “information asymmetry”; a small amount of people holding all of the information. Much of our society’s modes of productivity depe
by jbob2000 7y ago
I call what you’re describing “information asymmetry”; a small amount of people holding all of the information. Much of our society’s modes of productivity depend on many people not having access to information. How can you repair your car if there is nobody to show you how? I guess you’ll have to take it to a mechanic!
But the internet completely destroyed information asymmetry, many people have access to lots of information now. I don’t need to take my car to a mechanic or pay someone to teach me, I can watch a YouTube video on how to change my oil.
The side effect of the destruction of information asymmetry is that a LOT of people depended on it, and they are all going to have to figure out where they stand in the new marketplace of information. I think we’re also seeing huge social movements because people are reading stuff online and reflecting about their city/state/government and saying “hold on, what you’re doing isn’t right, I’ve read about why you’re wrong”. The Arab spring, occupy wall st, the european refugee crisis, the Hong Kong protests, the Chilean protests, basically any major social movement in the last 20 years could be argued to have been triggered by the internet.
- kd5bjo 7y ago> I don’t need to take my car to a mechanic or pay someone to teach me, I can watch a YouTube video on how to change my oil. This is historically why reading comprehension has been such a big deal. This information has always been widely available, in a maintenance manual you could borrow from your local library.
- vturner 7y agoThis point has stunned me recently. I purchased an air conditioner and furnace recently and thought hey I wonder what is in the massive manual. It turns out a lot! The same is true for most of the appliance and machine manuals I've looked at. What scares me from using said manuals is my lack of the basics in plumbing, electrical, etc.
- jbob2000 7y agoThere’s a limit on the number of books in a library, but the internet has allowed information to replicate as needed. I don’t need to wait a week for someone to return the Car Maintenance for Dummies book, the internet let’s me get the information very quickly.