Library of Babel: Difference between revisions
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The Library of Babel is a science fiction short story by Jorge Luis Borges which details out this issue in a thought experiment. The story describes a planet which contains all possible 410-page books of a certain format and character set. The majority of the book would be gibberish, however like 1,000 monkeys bashing the keys on typewriter for infinity they would produce the entire works of Shakespeare and beyond. | The Library of Babel is a science fiction short story by Jorge Luis Borges which details out this issue in a thought experiment. The story describes a planet which contains all possible 410-page books of a certain format and character set. The majority of the book would be gibberish, however like 1,000 monkeys bashing the keys on typewriter for infinity they would produce the entire works of Shakespeare and beyond. | ||
This is analogous to the internet as the majority of content is generated on the basis of what gets clicks opposed to what is correct. | This is analogous to the internet as the majority of content is generated on the basis of what gets clicks opposed to what is correct. A prime example of this is information about climate change. It is a fact that the vast majority of actively publishing climate scientists – 97 percent – agree that humans are causing global warming and climate change<ref>[https://climate.nasa.gov/faq/17/do-scientists-agree-on-climate-change/#:~:text=Yes%2C%20the%20vast%20majority%20of,global%20warming%20and%20climate%20change. https://climate.nasa.gov/faq/17/do-scientists-agree-on-climate-change/#:~:text=Yes%2C%20the%20vast%20majority%20of,global%20warming%20and%20climate%20change.]</ref>. However, people like [[wikipedia:Alex_Epstein_(American_writer)|Alex Epstein]] maintain that this not the case, this is not because he is more knowledgeable or even has a PhD in climate science, it is because clicks make revenue and there is a small, non-[[Neuroplasticity|neuroplastic]] population of people trying to avert [[cognitive dissonance]] and he is profiteering of this. | ||
Revision as of 01:24, 14 December 2022
The internet has changed how information is consumed. Historically, information has always been sparse, but now its so abundant anything can be equally proven or disproven. Expert knowledge of weighted referencing and critical analysis skills has now become a necessity in navigating the information age.
The Library of Babel is a science fiction short story by Jorge Luis Borges which details out this issue in a thought experiment. The story describes a planet which contains all possible 410-page books of a certain format and character set. The majority of the book would be gibberish, however like 1,000 monkeys bashing the keys on typewriter for infinity they would produce the entire works of Shakespeare and beyond.
This is analogous to the internet as the majority of content is generated on the basis of what gets clicks opposed to what is correct. A prime example of this is information about climate change. It is a fact that the vast majority of actively publishing climate scientists – 97 percent – agree that humans are causing global warming and climate change[1]. However, people like Alex Epstein maintain that this not the case, this is not because he is more knowledgeable or even has a PhD in climate science, it is because clicks make revenue and there is a small, non-neuroplastic population of people trying to avert cognitive dissonance and he is profiteering of this.