Information
A raw product. Often of unspecified origin, unverified and unclear.
The low-resolution antecedent to knowledge, which infers that if information can be controlled or modified in some way, then knowledge can be dictated.
We are exposed to more information in the modern technological age than ever before, and this has presented many with an opportunity: to determine which ingredients are available to make a cake.
There are various types of cake, each with their own ingredients, proportions, cooking time and temperature. Historically, when we wanted to make a cake, we would take one of two approaches. We would check our pantry for which ingredients we have available, and this would dictate which cake we are making, or we would decide which cake we want to make, and we would seek out the requisite ingredients from neighbours or a local merchant. Some of us enjoy dense cakes, some prefer lots of icing, some are particular to certain flavours, and some people prefer pie. Everyone enjoys their preferred dessert, and many will venture away from their preferences and consume something less than ideal, just to mix it up.
In free societies, there have not been many serious attempts to control baking needs. This is because free societies tend to be wealthy; all sorts of ingredients are widely available for most people. The odd interference by government or industry to limit access to one or more ingredients have sprung up, but the market responds and a throughway emerges. Both of these strategies are predictable human behaviour.
What is interesting is that we never seemed interested in controlling the eating habits of our neighbours, rather, we would simply engage in attempts to convey why our preferences are superior, and examine why we may prefer them. After all, we typically share the same dessert at gatherings, and we would like to have our favourite be the selection for the evening. If we can effectively convince our neighbours that our dessert is superior, and that they should care, then we can to have our way more often. This was because we were preoccupied with our respective theories of knowledge about cake – our cake epistemologies. We did not actively seek to undermine cocoa production so we could avoid having chocolate cake at another celebration, we tried to convince our friends and family to select another dessert. The game has changed.
The cake industry has become consolidated, and corporate sponsors and governments have decided that our choice of dessert determines our value as citizens. Rather than combat various preferences with their own theories of knowledge, they recognized that simply controlling the flow of certain ingredients will dictate which cakes can be made, and which cannot. We will no longer be permitted to make or consume whichever cake we would like, we are told which cakes are available. The reason why other cakes are no longer available is because they are unacceptable products. Beyond established cakes and desserts, any new recipes containing new ingredients shall be vetted in the same way. Over time, we will come to believe that the cakes we consume are the only ones that exist, or at least that they are the only acceptable ones.
In lieu of discussion and debate about the information that is freely available to everyone, they can simply control the information and sidestep having to defend their position at all. We will be rendered incapable of conceiving certain ideas because we lack access to certain information, and when serendipity occurs, it will be incredibly difficult to defend our position.
In a consolidated environment that manages information, we will be told which ingredients are nutritious or toxic, the appropriate proportions, the appropriate temperatures, and instructed on how long our cake should cook before we consume it. The desired outcome is that we will consume only whatever they claim is nutritious and nothing they claim is toxic, we will rest at the appropriate degrees of temperament that we are told are acceptable, and we will consume our cakes as quickly as possible. Half-baked cakes will always be more desirable by governments than one that spent more time in the oven so it could reach a more cohesive and coherent state.
The interest in policing, framing, and defining information in the modern technological age has given rise to new terminology that the powerful hope we integrate into how we perceive the world. We are much easier to manage when we are perpetually at odds with one another.
Understanding and social cohesion is impossible on our current diet. We need to diversify our appetites and have dinner with our neighbours again.
See: BAD ACTORS, DISINFORMATION, MALINFORMATION, MISINFORMATION
Posted: 21 Jan 2023
