Glut

What do primordial bacteria, medieval alchemists, and the World Wide Web have to do with each other This fascinating exploration of how information systems emerge takes readers on a provocative journey through the history of the information age.Today s information explosion may seem like an acutely modern phenomenon, but we are not the first generation nor even the first species to wrestle with the problem of information overload Long before the advent of computers, human beings were collecting, storing, and organizing information from Ice Age taxonomies to Sumerian archives, Greek libraries to Dark Age monasteries.Today, we stand at a precipice, as our old systems struggle to cope with what designer Richard Saul Wurman called a tsunami of data With some historical perspective, however, we can begin to understand our predicament not just as the result of technological change, but as the latest chapter in an ancient story that we are only beginning to understand.Spanning disciplines from evolutionary theory and cultural anthropology to the history of books, libraries, and computer science, writer and information architect Alex Wright weaves an intriguing narrative that connects such seemingly far flung topics as insect colonies, Stone Age jewelry, medieval monasteries, Renaissance encyclopedias, early computer networks, and the World Wide Web Finally, he pulls these threads together to reach a surprising conclusion, suggesting that the future of the information age may lie deep in our cultural past. Read Glut Author Alex Wright – kino-fada.fr The beginning of this book disappointed me, the author discusses the Mastering of Information starting from single celled organisms evolving genetic coping mechanisms for an increasing amount of information He uses this starting point to stroll into an epigenetic rationale for human s predisposition for hierarchical solutions to information overload problems I don t buy it Alex is definitely not a biologist I used to be if that amounts to anything and his intellectual weakness is demonstrat The beginning of this book disappointed me, the author discusses the Mastering of Information starting from single celled organisms evolving genetic coping mechanisms for an increasing amount of information He uses this starting point to stroll into an epigenetic rationale for human s predispositi...Intense, but v readable book about the history of information systems I was hooked at the intro The author gives the standard scholarly lots of people helped me but all the errors are my own admission, and then And perhaps I can take solace in knowing that even Linnaeus, the father of modern biol...A wonderful tour of the ways humans have sought to organize and impart knowledge and information Wright tackles the disciplines of psychology, cultural anthropology and computer science, even illuminating by examples from evolutionary biology, how natural and necessary it is for us to sort, classify and categorize the world around us He maintains that there is nothing new in the tension between hierarchical systems and social networks, and that this tension can be viewed as complementary rathe A wonderful tour of the ways humans have sought to organize and impart knowledge and information Wright tackles the disciplines of psychology, cultural anthropology and computer science, even illuminating by examples from evolutionary biology, how natural and necessary it is f...This book is essential reading for librarians, information architects, and other meta knowledge geeks, but most others could probably skip it I liked best the chapters on classification systems and alte...I don t know what I was thinking when I picked this book off the shelf Definitely not what I was expecting and certainly not my type of non fiction book, but unique Some of the information was interesting to my taste, but other times about hierarchies, the industrial libraries, etc, were the parts...Alex Wright presents selections from the history of information to show how people throughout recorded and, for that matter, pre historic time dealt with their need to organize and communicate information Utilizing a simple definition of information, that Information is the juxtaposition of data to create meaning, p 10 Wright finds evidence of a need for human organization of information from our very beginnings I had never thought of the development of symbolic representation itself, in Alex Wright presents selections from the history of information to show how people throughout recorded and, for that matter, pre historic time dealt with th...This is a well written text about a subject that is difficult, if not impossible, to tackle in one, short book As an introduction to the history of information, I think it s wonderful It s fodder forreading and thought provoking As someone who is beginning to think about information from an anthropological sense, I found Wright s overview very helpful However, that being said, I can see how someone withknowledge might be frustrated with the glossing of entire centuries of histo This is a well written text about a subject that is difficult, if not impossible, to tackle in one, short book As an introduction to the history of information, I think it s wonderful It s fodder forreading and thought provoking As someone who is beginning to think about information from ...read this goddamned book all of youThere are a few books that actually make you think and read them in a very active manner This book is one such book There are a lot of gaps in this book but still the subject and some questions it answers are actually quite profound.Some questions that the book answers are as followsHow did different civilizations who were not connected develop language, folk knowledge and classifications.Is information really that important a subject Where did it all start and how is it going as of now Is it There are a few books that actually make you think and read them in a very active manner This book is ...I don t think I can continue reading this because it frustrates me every few pages Admittedly, I ve only read the preface and part of the first chapter, but I can t believe how casually the author mentions, in that brief book span, that human characteristics like our drive to categorize and classify are probably epigenetic This seems irresponsible and feels like cherry picking data.In the span of three dozen pages, the epigenome is never explained but is credited with carrying universal huma I don t think I can continue reading this because it frustrates me every few pages Admittedly, I ve only read the preface and part of the first chapter, but I can t believe how casually the author mentions, in that brief book span, that human characteristics like our drive to categorize and classify are probably epigenetic This seems irresponsible and feels like cherry picking data.In the span of three dozen pages, the epigenome is never explained but is credited with carrying universal human tendencies and the prevalence of certain narrative archetypes that r...

• English
• 02 May 2017
Alex Wright
• Hardcover
• 286 pages
• 0309102383
• Alex Wright
• Glut