Books

Norwegian Professor of Social Anthropology Thomas Hylland Eriksen does a good job of analyzing the effects of the information age on our lifestyle, i.e. the increased speed and huge abundance of information. He does not want to do away with the positive aspects of digital technology but wonders aloud about how to mitigate the unwanted and unintende side effects of increasing speed.

Good stuff, that has a lot to do with what I talk about in my presentations on how to deal with information and knowledge abundance. It helps to clarify some points, that I usually move through pretty quickly, but some audiences need more examples or evidence for to make it sink in. This 2001 book contains a number of examples that sound out-dated (WAP anyone?) but they are easily replaced with new ones (Blackberry), and do not invalidate the notionsin the book, in fact they only help to proof the case in point.

At the end Eriksen suggests a number of possible things to do to combat the negative side effects of increased speed, but I find the section unconvincing. Might be a good subject for a blogposting on Interdependent Thoughts though.