The Age of Ignorance is Ending
There is no arguing the fact that information has changed and is continuing to change the world we live in. Changes like landlines to cell phones are obvious while others like the effect on our moral obligations is harder to see.
In his chapter “Ethics after the Information Revolution” Luciano Floridi breaks down this moral change in humanity through a simple equation:
A + B = C
A = the substantial erosion of the right to ignore
B= the exponential increase in common knowledge
C = the steady increase in the human responsibility (morally speaking)
To fully understand this equation and how it affects us, living in the height of the information age, we must recognize the influence Information Computer Technologies (ICTs) have on our lives. Throughout history we see tales and stories about information oppression and the burning of books, or the divinity complex of knowledge and its connection to power. For centuries people were deprived of basic knowledge and blocked from information, also referred to as “friction”, in their everyday lives and were ignorant to the fact it was happening. Building off this idea of friction, Floridi defines more specifically “ontological friction”: “the forces that oppose the flow of information within (a region of) the infosphere, and hence (as a coefficient) to the amount of work and effort required to generate, obtain, process and transmit information in a given environment…(pg. 5)” to explain how we are essentially living in a frictionless age of information.
With the introduction of cell phones came unlimited access to information in our back pockets resulting in an increased power for all of humanity. Yet, we continue to see blatant benightedness of so many people regarding important world issues. A key example being the recent Black Lives Matter protests and the drawn attention to “White Silence”. The most common excuse of “White Silence” is not knowing enough information about the subject to properly support the movement and therefore, deciding to do nothing.
Signs and images like the ones seen above started appearing more frequently as the 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests grew in strength and support. These are examples of what Floridi was referring to when talking about the “erosion of the right to ignore”. This argument, based on the immense amount of information available about events like this, is used to enforce the idea that “lack of knowledge” is no longer a valid excuse. With new technologies, come new ways for us to teach ourselves and challenge our perceptions of the truth. We now have the ability to change the world through educating ourselves and turning what was once only known by scholars and educators into common public knowledge.
Rather than speak about a topic they were uninformed about and risk spreading false information, those who originally claimed a lack of knowledge on the topic displayed self-awareness and admitted their shortcomings. This is admirable because just as there are ample amounts of information on subjects, there are equal amounts of misinformation spread both accidentally and maliciously. This sometimes makes the truth harder to find. We saw this as well during 2020 as the Black Lives Matter protests were reported as “mobs” and “gangs”. Therefore, it is important to be informed before taking action, but “White Silence” refers to those choosing to stay misinformed, which is just as harmful.
During the peak of the Black Lives Matter movement this image, originated by digital artist Donny Miller, continued to appear on my Instagram feed: “in the age of information, ignorance is a choice.”
The quote is portraying exactly what Floridi was writing about: as we have more access to information, we have less room for excuses. Those who were previously repressed and undermined, now have the information and understanding necessary to stand up for what is right. They are no longer blinded by incompetency. As individuals living in a frictionless age of information, we have less “right to ignore”. We are increasing our “common knowledge” and therefore, have an increased “human responsibility” to fight for change.
