We are living in the digital information era. Data is beamed from satellites to cell towers, flows through optical fiber cables, and runs on hardlines and networks right to our homes, offices, cars, and just about everyplace else. News, entertainment, sports, classes, tutorials, shopping, emails, texts, documents, tweets, vlogs, blog posts, livestreams, podcasts, memes, opinions, analyses, reviews, and reactions are all available to anyone with a computer or smart device and an internet connection.
We love being children of the information generation. Only the truly brave or incredibly naïve would claim ignorance on topics that are trending or going viral. To utter “I haven’t heard anything about that” is to witness the raised eyebrows, widened eyes, and dropped chins of shocked onlookers. Even if we do not have the necessary equipment or skills to access the information for ourselves, we are forced to confront the unwarranted expectation that we should know someone who can. In the era of digital information, there is no excuse for not knowing.
Unfortunately, our excessive data consumption has produced an unwanted side effect. It has spawned a generation of Know-It-Alls. Logging countless hours on our preferred search engines, we “research” whatever topic has caught our attention or concern for the day, week, or season of life. Then, armed with the gathered facts, we use every opportunity – and create new ones – to unleash our newly acquired knowledge on an unsuspecting circle of family, friends, and followers.
There is a certain bravado knowledge gives us. We do not need to hope, wonder, or even guess – not when we possess the facts in pixelated characters on a screen. The confidence in what we know feels like a natural high. It gives us the boldness to draw conclusions, make evaluations, and offer criticisms and condemnations. We love the certainty of knowing the facts and take pride in our correctness.
However, our pursuit of knowledge is never without biases. Our desire to learn is often based on our personal needs, and that causes us to be selective in the information we pursue. All too often, we want to know more of what we already believe to be true – or at the very least, what we suspect to be true. And therein lies the danger.
END OF PART ONE.
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