IRRATIONALITY AND MISINFORMATION IN CONTEMPORARY ELECTRONIC MEDIA (ABSTRACT)
Pavel Vachtl
Freelance journalist, Sisyfos,
Prague, Czech Republic, e-mail: pvachtl@quick.cz
Introduction
This paper includes a basic overview and a more detailed description of
various mechanisms and forms of "electronic" propagation of irrational elements.
We focused, primarily, on the most common technological and cultural issues and aspects, while leaving aside specific social circumstances or political context. "Contemporary electronic media" are mainly understood to be "digital electronic media" in our paper. Its full text will be available in the Czech language by December 2001 (in the collection of works of Sisyfos members entitled Vėda kontra iracionalita 2 /Science versus Irrationality 2/, Academia Publishing, Prague 2001, in press).
"Electronic barbarians"
The dramatic scientific and technological progress experienced through the
entire 20th century resulted in a rather paradoxical outcome - formation of a
whole generations or social strata of people who, in their practical lives, regularly use
and rely on high-tech devices, but generally do not understand the basic principles of
such devices. This may seem like a fulfilment of A. C. Clarke´s concept that highly
advanced technology could resemble "magic" or "sorcery" to some
people. These "electronic barbarians" are unable to differ between science and
magic, as appropriate resolution seems to be unnecessary for their day-to-day existence.
The situation corresponds with the idea that one big era of human technological expansion
is drawing to its end, and contributes also to the concept of the "post-modern
condition" and to a variety of post-modernist attitudes.
Visuality and illusion - the insufficiency of purely visual communication.
Infotainment.
According to Umberto Eco, it is impossible to use images for the expression
of non-existence or negation of something. This can be regarded as great disadvantage or
fatal defect of this form of communication in terms of logical or rational content of
messages and, consequently, also of critical thinking.
Unfortunately, the proportion of visual transfer through the electronic media (i.e. TV, PC games, Internet, video) is permanently increasing at present. Moreover, the visuality seems to consume a big part of human brain perception capacity. Another typical media phenomenon of our times is the genre-melting or genre-blending. It is growing more and more difficult for a media consumer to differ between information, documentary, fiction and even entertainment. This situation - when the spectators are "under fire" of the post-modern "info-tainment" - might be intentionally brought about by the mass-media creators.
In contrast with the totalitarian manipulative media practice, the
post-modern spectators accept this form of mass misinformation voluntarily and receive it
highly individually, on a multi-channel basis. This makes the society become more atomised
and cross-divided and also gradually unable to accept any form of objective knowledge,
e.g. to accept scientific concepts. Publication of objective scientific facts might be
therefore regarded (by a part of hypersensitive individuals) as a kind of non-democratic
act, almost a violence. However, refusing the science would probably make
the society vulnerable with respect to the rough natural and impersonal world.
Virtual reality (VR) - simulation of real world or creation of phantoms?
Obviously, both statements with respect to VR can be true soon (the word
"virtual" itself is ambivalent, having the sense of "real" and
simultaneously of "imaginary" ). On one hand, the VR technology may be used for
a perfect modelling, learning and teaching of real processes in the physical world around
us. On the other hand, VR can also serve as a mighty facility for various escapist
illusions. (By the way, this technology along with all its chief consequences was
anticipated by the Polish SF writer Stanislav Lem in his book Summa technologiae,
published more than 36 years ago (in 1964), who then called VR "phantomology" or
"phantomatics") Scepticism about the human resistance vis-á-vis a perfect
neuro-simulation of pseudo-real world has been expressed e. g. in the recently made movie
"Matrix" (1999), where only small group of rebels fights against this
simulation.
Internet - a new digital media environment which is mostly textual today but
may acquire a multi-media or almost purely visual character tomorrow
The Internet has a potential to beat the rest of the media (classical or
analogue) within 10 - 20 years. At the same time, a fusion of Internet servers with the
"big" press, TV or radio broadcasting is very probable - actually, it has
already begun. However, unlike them, the Internet cannot be considered as a mass medium
with only central transmission. The ability of information exchange on it is largely
distributed and omni-directional, similar to neural network. Thanks to that, one can then
better confront misinformation and pseudo-science over the Internet, compared to TV
broadcast, press etc. On the other hand, the very low www-publication threshold allows any
incompetent person to speak about anything.
Nevertheless, concerning the relation between the rational and
irrational, science and pseudo-science, we have to generally conclude that the Internet
represents a highly neutral tool.
Author´s note: I would like to thank for essential help of my friend Marek Riha during translation of this abstract to English