Beyond the Information Age discusses a new way of thinking about computers, knowledge and understanding. See the editorial for more information....



Preface

Today we live in what is commonly called the Information Age. This is the age of computers, email, cellular phones, and satellite TV. As a result of these new technologies most of us are constantly being bombarded with information and advertising in huge quantities. The act of personally sorting out and processing this onslaught of information is daunting and disturbing. If we allow this to continue we will become like zombies in a constant state of information overload.

To solve the problem of information overload we must do what humans have done in the past when facing a new challenge. We need to change our lifestyle and mode of thinking to accommodate the new paradigm. We need to develop new tools to help us cope with the new enemy. With new tools and new knowledge we can overcome adversity with grace and dignity.

The book will give you the basic education you need to think and live beyond the information age. The information in this book may be totally new to you, so be prepared for an onslaught of new ideas. These ideas will require some careful thought on your part to internalize and understand. This is the same process our ancestors have gone through many times before.

For a quick historical perspective lets look at some recent 'ages' that people had to go through. In the early 1800's most people were farmers and used livestock for their power and transportation. This pre-industrial age required its own set of know-how to maintain the animals and operate the farm. Today most of that knowledge is forgotten. During the late 1800's and early 1900's we entered the Industrial Age of automobiles and electricity.

In the Industrial Age people's lives were ruled by machines they built and had to maintain, so knowledge of machines was required. Beginning in the mid 1900's and early 2000's machines began to be built and run by computers so knowledge of machine operation was no longer needed. This is Computer Age or Information Age where we are now. Computers run most of the machines for us and even the farms are becoming almost totally automated. In this information age many people have been relegated to the job of information processors.

If we look at our information age objectively we see billions of people driving gas guzzling cars to work everyday. They park their cars at office buildings in congested metropolitan areas. They enter these box-like buildings to do mostly just one thing, process information. After leaving 'work' they drive home again only to be deluged by more commercial information from their TV's and computers. In the information age, people are simply information processors and that's what they do almost all day long.

Now obviously this act of driving to and from work everyday is a waste of time and energy. With all these computers and telecommunications around why do we still need to use humans as information processors? And why do we need to transport them to and from an office to do their information processing job? This book has the answers to these questions and will lead the way eliminating this waste of time and energy that is the scourge of the information age.

The book will guide you through a portal from the information age to a new age no longer dominated by information. The new age will no longer require office buildings and their associated travel to work. People will no longer need to be 'information processors' and instead become citizens of a global true knowledge network.

The transition beyond the information age will be easy for most but difficult for many. Old ways will need to be forgotten and new skills acquired. People will need to learn a lot more about how the human mind works including the real meaning of life. The first half of this book deals with knowledge of how the brain works from processing data and information to the realization of a new understanding. This material is easy to learn and should be the staple of a standard education in the coming age.

The second half of the book deals with the design new tools that will take us beyond the information age. These tools will be unlike anything we have ever used before and will change our lives forever. It's almost unimaginable the changes that a new tool can affect. If you just look at the internal combustion engine and how it changed the world you may get an idea of the magnitude of change that a single new tool can provide.

In the end the main goal of this book is simple: Build a tool to free people from the job of information processing so we can eliminate office buildings and the associated wasteful to drive to work. These changes will save our planet and lead us beyond the information age to an age of true knowledge and precise understanding.




Last Update: 2007-Jan-04