INFORMATION SOCIETY: We are none the wiser in this age
I WOULD like to respond to Prof Ahmad Murad Merican's "Celebrating the scribe in all forms", which appeared last Sunday.
The information explosion that is the result of today’s hyper-connectivity could lead to confusion.
Almost all intellectuals have recognised and heralded the information age. Some have labeled it the age of information explosion, in which we are hyper-connected.
But a bigger question is, what are we connected to? Have we, through this hyper-connectivity, became better communicators?
Despite having a plethora of information at our disposal, how efficient are we in making use of our cognitive abilities?
Judging from mankind's track record in resolving problems, we are in dire strait.
Perhaps a blast from the past could show us how the ancients negotiated the rightful role of cognition in communication.
Renowned scholar Tan Sri Prof Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas, in his studies of Hamzah Fansuri, a Malay Sufi poet in the 16th century, saw the employment of rightful terms by the classical Malay writer to elucidate things with finesse.
Words such as kenal and tahu, although having almost the same meaning, exhibit significant differences.
According to Syed Muhammad Naquib, the employment of these words by Hamzah was consistent throughout his writings. When he used the word kenal, it meant gnosis, and when he used the word tahu, it meant knowledge.
This kind of mental attitude was very much prevalent in those days among all Malay writers and scholars.
Now, these distinctions are no longer as apparent, especially to the modern Malays.
This very much shows the level of our thoughts and the callous use of language in describing and interpreting the realities that appear before our mind's eyes.
This uncouth usage is characteristic of this (dis)information age. We have confused information with knowledge, and knowledge with wisdom.
Like stranded travellers in the desert who cannot quench their thirst by sipping water conjured by a mirage, we have a society that can never be satiated despite being fed tonnes of information on a daily basis.
Jean Braudillard, the celebrated French philosopher once said: "We live in a world where there is more and more information, but less and less meaning."
Respected environmentalist, Professor David W. Orr, could not be more apt in describing the condition of modern minds which cannot make proper distinctions between slow and fast knowledge when he said: "The differences between them could not be more striking. Fast knowledge is focused on solving problems, usually by one technological fix or another. Slow knowledge has to do with avoiding problems in the first place."
The (dis)information age indeed heralded a brave new world for all, and journalism had such a massive role to play in mediating the (right) discourse between academia and the masses.
Journalism, as rightly described by Murad, is not a value-free profession. Contemporary times celebrate the rise of "citizen journalism". If they -- the masses -- are not given proper training and guidance with regard to negotiating and participating directly or indirectly in journalism, they could sow more seeds of confusion.
A scribe should realise that the pen is mightier than the sword, and that accountability comes with a great price tag as well.
Join NST's Facebook Community!
