Blockchain Bachelor’s Thesis – Information Overload and Methods of its Elimination in the Modern Information Society: Preface

Source

Previously published

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Introduction

Blockchainized Bachelor’s Thesis
Blockchainized Bachelor’s Thesis – Initial Brainstorm

Thesis

1. Preface

The very first part of a possibly very first blockchainized bachelor’s thesis

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The time has come. I have roughly 2 months to finish the work, therefore it’s just about the time to start not only reading relevant documents, but actually writing the thesis. I would be super interested in any feedback, be it suggestions what to add, remittance to bad construction of individual sentences, or mere typos. Without further delay, behold the preface!

Preface

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Information overload has been an aspect of human civilization since its early stages. The oldest surviving references indicate that more than two thousand years ago it was a more or less discussed topic. Even back then, at times where storage, dissemination, and overall work with information was in its prenatal developmental stage, some thinkers realized that the amount of information available was firmly linked to that aspect (later defined as information overload), which was already considered by many to be a problem.

As time passed, two major information explosions took place. The first one was the invention of typography, and the other was the discovery of the Internet (and by extension, aids that give us the opportunity to connect to it whenever we want) and its subsequent expansion outside the territory of the governments themselves. At first, information overload was the problem of a handful of philosophizing intellectuals. Each of these "waves" of the information explosion extended this aspect to the broader strata of society. These waves of information explosions have pushed our civilization into what we call the information age. Now, two thousand years after this aspect was first recorded in a circle of philosophizing intellectuals, we find ourselves at a time when information overload affects almost all individuals living in "developed" parts of the planet. I percieve "developed parts of the planet" as places where the day's main problem of the inhabitants is not to survive the next day, but places where the overwhelming majority without difficulty achieves basic life needs and therefore have the time and motivation to be "active with the accessible information in any way".

Whether you are, readers of this text, children, teenagers, adults, seniors, erudites, untaught, manual workers, intellectuals, unemployed, students or any combination of these options, it is very likely that you are under the influence of information overload. This can be assured with certainty, because the information overload is present in all informational individuals in today's information time. All individuals are often and repeatedly exposed to a large flow of incoming information in order to survive or simply function effectively in the information age. But the same thing (exposure to information) is rapidly becoming one of the most enjoyable means of spending the free time. Thus said, not only are all individuals "forced" to be actively connected to the accessible information, but they are also doing the very same thing voluntarily. They often don’t rationalize the problem, or are not even consciously aware of it and they don’t take any precautions, which is accompanied by certain consequences.

In the bachelor’s thesis I will treat this aspect of human civilization with respect, as I consider it a major problem. I will try to create (in the current state of accessible sources) one of the few relevant Czech sources on this issue. I will also translate the document and hash it into a Blockchain database called Steem. The final product will be freely accessible both in Czech and English (although the latter will probably be of a lesser quality).

First of all, I will specify definitions of terms and a few premises that will be used and followed in the text. I will create an overview (from my point of view) of the relevant views of information professionals or simply people critically thinking about the issue, to which I will try to attach my own opinions. I will put the emphasis on maintaining an objective outlook. To confirm or validate my statements, I will use the texts found through my recherché (sources: Ukaž, Web of Science, LISS, LISA) and selected professional sources. Finally, I will at least attempt to assess the effectiveness of the various methods of elimination or at least partial mitigation of the consequences of information overload, but as will soon eventuate from my work, I am not entirely convinced that it is possible to construct methods that will always be effectively applicable to all subjective entities.

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