Information Revoloution Essay, Research Paper

There is a revolution taking place all over the world. There is no blood shed in this revolution. It is the revolution of information.

The information revolution has been taking place for decades, but only know do we fully realize the impact it has had and will have. The benefits of this revolution have changed how are society works, plays, and lives. These changes have brought many benefits to society and are still bringing benefits.

James Snider?s argument that the information revolution will be the down fall of the environment is fundamentally flawed. All of his justifications are could happens that are not supported. He even states that all of the major environmentally clubs don?t consider the information revolution as a threat. If the “tree hugger?s” don?t consider the information revolution a menace, why should we.

On the other hand, John Mayo offers a very realistic and viable argument for the information revolution. Mayo offers many good examples of how the information revolution has benefited society. He also offers many predictions for the future.

Both Snider and Mayo have many good arguments, some better then others, that I will discuss and analyze. I will show how the information revolution as benefited society and will continue to benefit society. I will also describe the arguments against the information revolution, and state how the argument is flawed.

The greatest benefit of the information revolution is that know for the first time in history every person has the ability to obtain the latest information instantly. When people are informed, they have power, because knowledge is power. With knowledge, people can make much more informed decisions. They know and understand what?s happening in the world around them. Back in the eight-teen hundreds, many people did not know for months who was elected President of the United States. Now a days everyone knows who is running and who wins thanks to the information revolution. The information revolution has also brought about the formation of the information superhighway. The information superhighway is a seamless network of computers and databases were anyone, anytime, and anywhere can access limitless information. The information superhighway gives people the power of knowledge. It allows people to see things they might have never seen, if it were not for the information superhighway. With the information superhighway people can take virtual tours of museums, campuses, and buildings not even constructed yet. A person can also walk through buildings that no longer exist. There are so many things that one can do using the information superhighway, and I will describe many of them in the rest of the paper.

The information revolution has also made are lives much easier. The lives of people all over the world has been affected because of the information revolution. Years ago people of the rich nations did not know of or did not understand the blight many people of poor nations faced every day. Now that the whole world knows of the poverty many people face the world?s people are doing something to stop poverty. The information revolution has also exposed many people to different cultures. This exposure has helped to end the hatred between many different cultures. The information revolution has also made it possible to do many things form the comfort of one?s own home. One can now go to a web site for a car company and play around with options to see what they want. One can do all of there shopping online. People who once relied on someone else to bye stuff for them can know do it for themselves. The information superhighway also makes life easier by allowing families to communicate with each other form anywhere in the world. The information superhighway also makes it possible to get a college degree, and one never has to step foot on a college campus. Are lives are so much easier because of the information revolution, and I am sure Snider would agree that even he has benefited from this easier life.

The medical field has benefited greatly form the information revolution. Doctors must agree that having the ability to go to a computer and have access of a database of every know illness is a very powerful tool. Before this database doctors had to either do intensive research or just know the signs of an illness to determine what you had. Sometimes that was not even enough. If you had a rare topical illness chances are, they would never figure out what you had. But now a days, all a doctor has to do if he has a patient with illness he doesn?t recognize is go to a computer, type in the aliments of the patient, and the computer spits out the possibly illness the patient has. The information revolution is also making more people aware of deadly illnesses and how to prevent and diagnose them. The fight against breast cancer is one such campaign, that has used the information revolution to get its message to the masses. The information revolution also made it possible for doctors on opposite sides of the world to collaborate on patients. The information revolution has made it possible for doctors to have instant access to a patients records, a database of every know illness, and the knowledge to more effectively diagnose and treat the sick. I do not know about the rest of the world, but I am happy in knowing that my doctor can diagnose anything.

Education has been drastically changed because of the information revolution. The education system has been changed, because now everyone knows the importance of an education. With parents and children having the latest information about education the education system has to adapt and become better. Using the information revolution, the education system has access to latest textbooks, lab manuals, and procedures. A good example of how the information revolution has effected education is one involving a chronicle sick child. This child was always in and out of the hospital, but he never fell behind in class. The reason for that is he was connected to the Internet. There was cameras placed in the class room and he was basically involved in an interactive TV class room. This example shows how a child at one time, would have falling behind in class and would have probably had to repeat that grade, but because of the information revolution he is on track and will not have the feeling of being left behind. The information revolution has also allowed many physical and mental disabled children to attend public schools instead of schools for the disabled.

As Mr. Snider stated in his article all of the major environmental groups like the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society feel that the information revolution has had huge benefits for the environment. The information revolution has helped the environment in many ways. It has made more people aware of how their actions effect the environment. It has also giving people a reason to care about the environment, by showing them what there actions might ruin. With the help of various mediums, like the information superhighway, the environmental clubs have been able to get their message to the masses. Although one of the biggest reasons why the environmental clubs like the information revolution, is how it has effected air pollution. With more and more people being able to work and shop at home, the gas that they would have burnt in their car?s does not get burnt. So there is no air pollution being created and that is a very good thing.

The job of police officer is a very dangerous one at times, but thanks to the information revolution that job has become much easier. The information revolution has giving police officers the most powerful weapon to fight crime, information. With instant and up to date information, a police officer can know what to accept when they pull someone over or enter a house. Almost all police cars now have an onboard computer, which is linked to a international database of know criminals. Even before a police officer pulls someone over, the officer knows if the driver might be a danger or not. They know this because they run your license plate number through the computer and see if the car might be stolen. Then when they take your license, they run that through the computer and see if you have any warrants out for your arrest. With instant information, police officers can catch and arrest criminals much earlier. The information revolution has also brought about a change in how neighbors interact. With more and more people being informed on what to look for if you suspect your neighbor is being robbed, more and more people are preventing crime before it happens. Also, people now know how to make their house?s less enticing to a would be criminal. The information revolution has also giving people the knowledge of how to stop a person who is attacking you. If the information revolution has helped to prevent just one person from being a victim of a violent crime, I feel it has greatly helped society.

The information revolution has helped to bring the people of the world closer. The phrase “global village” was coined because of the information revolution. The world is a global village because of the information revolution. The information revolution has allowed people from every corner of the world to talk to each other and share cultures. I myself am taking advantage of this ability. I talk to and exchange e-mails with a person form Germany. If it were not for the information superhighway, I would have never know this person and I feel my life would be less if I did not know this person. I have been introduced to many new cultures because of the information superhighway. I would not have understood these cultures without the information superhighway. The information revolution has also been used to create many successful marriages. These couples would probably have never met, if it were not for the information revolution.

With all of the benefits the information revolution has brought, there is still a few problems it also brought along. One such problem is how complicated our lives have become. With all of the technology we have, you almost need to be a rocket scientist to operate it let alone fix it. Many people get frustrated over not being able to make something work. Most older people in society talk about the good old days, but if you were to ask them to give up their air condition, microwaves, and cars in order to have the good old days back most would say I do not like the good old days that much. So our lives are a little more complicated, we have to use are brain more, but it is all worth it. I do not believe someone would give up their current life for one in the good old days.

Another major issue against the information revolution, is the health problems it causes. It is true, that the increases in some illness is related to the information revolution. The rise in obesity among adults and especially children is of major concern. With easy access to information, many people don?t get the excise they need. When someone can order everything needed over the Internet, there is no need for that person to go outside and get some excise. With obesity on the rise, it also causes illnesses related to weight to increase like heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Even though the information revolution has helped to increase certain illnesses, we can not forget all of the illnesses it has helped to stop. The information revolution has made many people aware of many deadly illnesses. Obesity is not a deadly illness. There is no such thing as dying form obesity. The benefits of the information revolution on the medical field far out weigh the problems it has caused.

Snider paints a pretty grim picture of the environment if we allow the information revolution to continue. He describes a world where the human population is spread evenly through out the world. He talks about how if the human population were to spread itself out there would be a global destruction of the environment. The only problem with this picture is that it is built on could happens and might happens. For this picture to become real, people would have to leave the large urban areas. This is not likely to happen because many people stay were they grew up. If you grew up with the hustle and bustle of a big city all around you, the idea of living in a small town sounds boring. Static?s show that a little over 90 percent of people live within a 50 mile radius of where they grew up. No one wants to leave family and friends, so many people stay were they grew up, weather it be a small town or the big city.

The information revolution has also brought a new wave of crime, electronic crime. The databases we hold so dear are one of the main reasons for this new kind of crime. When you have people?s whole lives on a computer, it is a very tempting target. This new crime is hard to stop and even harder to catch the people who are doing it. Even though it is hard to stop and hard to catch the people, we still do catch them. Every day new programs are coming out to stop these criminals from gaining access to people?s sensitive information. For every new program a hacker creates to break into someone?s database, there is a program created to stop it.

The information revolution is a revolution that does not understand what being social is. Many people spend hours on the computer every day. These people have no social life, but the virtual social life they have created on the Internet. Many colleges have banned or restricted students, who are on the Internet to much, from using the Internet. Colleges like the University of Maryland has such a rule in place. The University of Michigan and Michigan State University are two colleges considering implementing such rules. What kind of message are these colleges sending to there students. They are saying you can?t control yourself and you are an addict. We are going to save you from yourself because we know what is best for you. Last I checked, most every one who attends college is an adult, and in America adults have the right to make their own choices. If a person wants to spend 12 hours a day on the Internet, so be it. As long as their grades are not suffering because of it, what business is it of the schools. They are all adults. Let them make their own decisions.

Information, what a powerful tool. It can cause plants to shift or an atom to split. The information revolution has created so many benefits for society that far out weigh the problems it creates. The information revolution is going to occur no matter what anyone says. You can either embrace the revolution or be run over by it. I prefer to embrace it, because it has giving me so much and will continue to influence my life for the better.