Response 6

Response to Ambient Findability, chapters 3-5

Questions:

1. What is information? Can such a term be defined?
2. Under what circumstances do people tend to avoid the information they may need?
3. Are technologies such as the GPS Locator for Kids a good thing, or do they present the possibility for parents to become less involved with their children? Do such technologies compromise traditional parenting skills?

Response to Question 2-

Although information may be available to us and we may need such information, we often tend to ignore or avoid such information. We do this when we are afraid of what the information will reveal. Will the information make us feel less intelligent? Will it contradict something we have long thought to be true and shared with others? Will it present us with further obstacles? Will we find out we are in danger? All of these questions can prevent us from taking advantage of the surplus of information surrounding us.

For example, a woman diagnosed with breast cancer has a plethora of information concerning the disease and its treatments at her fingertips. Information she needs that could help to save her life may be mere clicks or pages away. She could research the possible effects and symptoms of the illness, treatments and their side effects, odds of survival and other details to supplement her knowledge. However, she avoids this information in fear of what it means. What if she finds out her chances of total recovery are slim? What about the horror stories she might read about chemotherapy and radiation?

Another instance where individuals avoid information is when they feel their intelligence will be compromised or other people will realize they are flawed. For example, a man in conversation with a few friends may share some embellished information with his buddies to make himself appear superior or more intelligent. He may be unsure of the factuality of what he says, and he may be able to look up the correct information within seconds, yet he instead sticks with his original statement. He avoids looking up the information, instead insisting that he is correct. Fear of appearing “stupid” or finding out we are wrong often prevents us from learning the truth.

comments:

response from sandy --sbaldwin, Wed, 15 Mar 2006 12:34:37 -0500 reply
Lindsay: One thing you're pointing to is the difference between information as an abstract notion, kind of like a mathematical formula, and information as something applicable to real contexts, perhaps like mathematics applied to people or things. In the examples you offer, it's one thing to know information and another thing to use it or act on it. The latter - using or acting - requires making the information part of our lives, literally letting it "inform" us (which is the meaning of information, after all). I suppose this is something like the notion of "ambient" or "social software" : thinking of information as part of our world rather than something "out there."