Are we discovering more than we can process?

[Adios]

In light of recent discoveries I have been thinking about this.

Thoughts?

[hooplala]

In light of recent discoveries I have been thinking about this.

Thoughts?

Please elaborate.

[LMNO]

Yes, for certain values of "we".


That is to say, the people discovering new things are processing them just fine, but the people who are hearing second or third hand about new things are having a hard time processing all the new things they're hearing about.

[Adios]

With new technology we seem to be finding more information. From out own planet to the universe. The Hadron Collider is on the verge of a huge discovery. Are we in a position to really process the barrage of information coming from every angle?
Will people have to become even more specialized to do this?

Just the recent posts in the technology forum are mind boggling to me.

[Captain Utopia]

That is to say, the people discovering new things are processing them just fine, but the people who are hearing second or third hand about new things are having a hard time processing all the new things they're hearing about.

So, like, the very people tasked with making Important Decisions, then?

[Adios]

Yes, for certain values of "we".


That is to say, the people discovering new things are processing them just fine, but the people who are hearing second or third hand about new things are having a hard time processing all the new things they're hearing about.

Which leads me to wonder about how they are to be integrated. How will X affect Y kind of thing.

[Richter]

To OP: Yes.  Taking a wide angle view and trying to digest everything new that people figure, re figure, stuble into, or remember would eb like going to a chinese joint every day and ordering everything on the menu...and they make a new menu with new dishes every day.  

Some people know an incredible amount about very focused things.  I do a little, and folks like Kai do to a really impressive degree.  no one specializes in everything at once though.

[hooplala]

With new technology we seem to be finding more information. From out own planet to the universe. The Hadron Collider is on the verge of a huge discovery. Are we in a position to really process the barrage of information coming from every angle?
Will people have to become even more specialized to do this?

Just the recent posts in the technology forum are mind boggling to me.

I think for the mass population technology will always be one generation ahead of being widely understood.  There is shit coming out now that I find sort of confusing, but babies being born now probably won't.

[Jenne]

Humans over time have had to adapt to the new "toys" and newer ways of thinking, as well as new knowledge bases that are shared with an ever-increasing number of audience members.

I guess I have a great reference to this watching as Afghans the country over have cell phones by the millions--but guess how many have hot and cold running water or electricity on a regular basis?

[Nephew Twiddleton]

One of the things that might become necessary as a social change in the next couple of decades is extra time for higher education. It makes some sense anyway as our life expectancies are longer. There would have to be other changes though, such as improving the quality of health as one gets older, as well as some economic adjustments.

[Adios]

I have a horrible vision of one dimensional  people being needed in the future.

[Luna]

It boggles the mind how much we DO process.  Just in my lifetime, we've gone from computers that would fill an entire room that could handle simple math to carrying the internet around in our pockets... and nobody really thinks twice about just how amazing that is.

People process what they're handed and what they deal with daily.  Or they process what they go looking for.  Some people, however, are just too lazy to stretch their minds around some of the stuff out there.  

[AFK]

To the question:

For the "common" man, I would say yes.  

But as a collective species, I don't think it is any different today than it was long ago.  That is because I think our capacity to explore and understand is reactive, not proactive.  That is, it is reactive to things like population size.  The more people we have in society the bigger capacity we have to branch out and diversify into new areas of knowledge.

So I think the capacity stays in step with the species.  I think the caveman was probably just as awe-struck with the wheel as we are with the Hadron collider.  

[LMNO]

Another thought:  One of the principles of the BIP is that REALITY is whirling around us all the time, and we're unable to process most of it, for various reasons.

What a lot of these new technologies are doing are merely showing us the stuff we're unable to process on our own.

For the most part, the stuff we're discovering has no impact on our day-to-day lives, other than from a philisophical outlook.  I mean, what impact does an infinite universe have on tonight's dinner?

[Adios]

Another thought:  One of the principles of the BIP is that REALITY is whirling around us all the time, and we're unable to process most of it, for various reasons.

What a lot of these new technologies are doing are merely showing us the stuff we're unable to process on our own.

For the most part, the stuff we're discovering has no impact on our day-to-day lives, other than from a philisophical outlook.  I mean, what impact does an infinite universe have on tonight's dinner?

It won't affect tonights dinner, but what technology will todays discoveries bring tomorrow? This is what I meant when I asked how everything will be integrated. In simpler times (maybe) the space program brought many seeming miraculous things in our daily lives.