Alvin I. Goldman Knowledge In A Social World
Book details
- Title
- Alvin I. Goldman Knowledge In A Social World
- Publication year listed
- 1900
- Format
- Public domain eBook
- Reading access
- Free online reader; no registration required
- Source record
- View on Archive.org
About this book
Alvin I. Goldman Knowledge In A Social World
Author: Alvin I. Goldman
Year: 1900
This is the best of times, or this is the worst of times, for the social pursuit of knowledge. Optimists point with pride to the World Wide Web and the Information Superhighway. They exult in the fact that with every new photograph from the Hubble Space Telescope we get more precise information about distant galaxies and greater insight into the origin of the universe. When have we been better endowed with information and knowledge? Pessimists point to more worrisome conditions. Broadcast political news in America increasingly comes in bite-sized morsels, and the average citizen has been shown to have sparse political knowledge. Ownership and control of news outlets increasingly reside in a few powerful media conglomerates. A small number of industrial corporations have more public communications power than any private businesses have ever possessed in world history (Bagdikian 1997: ix–x). On this scenario we seem perilously close to an Orwellian nightmare. How should these dramatically divergent perspectives be reconciled? Just how good or how bad are the prospects for knowledge in contemporary society?