Information overload and trust: a society losing its shared reality
Vinay Pasricha notes that humanity produces around 400 million terabytes of information every day, making it the most connected society ever. Yet, he says, seven out of ten people now hesitate to trust anyone who sees the world differently, and trust in shared institutions keeps draining. The most informed society in history is losing what information was for: a common picture of reality. He asks whether all this motion is advancement or just activity. His book The Civilization argues that intelligence, wherever it emerges, moves along eight identifiable directions. One of them is truth: a society either compounds its understanding of reality or compounds its noise. "Louder is not wiser. Connected is not aligned."
Key points
- Information volume is at a historic high while trust across differences is falling.
- The most informed society risks losing a common picture of reality.
- Intelligence moves along eight identifiable directions, and truth is one of them.
- A society compounds either its understanding or its noise; speed without direction isn't progress.
Louder is not wiser. Connected is not aligned.
Topics
Transcript
Full transcript · 175 words
Every single day, humanity produces around 400 million terabytes of information. More in one morning than entire centuries once managed. We are the most connected society that has ever existed. And yet, seven out of 10 people now say they hesitate to trust anyone who sees the world differently. Trust in shared institutions draining year after year. The most informed society in history is losing the one thing information was for.
A common picture of reality. So, here is the question no metric answers. Is all this motion advancement or just activity? I spent years on that question and the answer became a book. Intelligence, wherever it emerges, moves along eight identifiable directions. One of them is truth. A society either compounds its understanding of reality or compounds its noise. Against those directions, any society can be read. Louder is not wiser.
Connected is not aligned. A society can accelerate while its compass spins. My book, The Civilization, is written for decisions that outlast the people who make them. Get your copy at vinaypasricha.com today.
Transcribed from the video's YouTube auto-generated captions, lightly cleaned for reading. Wording may differ slightly from the audio.
