Of the Information Revolutions and Such

We have long acknowledged that change results from revolutions. Yet truth be told, revolutions are actually born from change. Change is where the fundamental blocks of a revolution affirms itself. Amidst the turmoil and unease comes forth a new sound of a potent reaction.

The six information revolutions were no different from the physical and violent revolts that mankind is witness to. Each revolution found a generous dose of dissatisfaction from the current society. Each revolution enlightened individuals who wanted reform and utility against the inefficiency of the status quo. The inventions and discoveries of the individuals would further a message of change. And all would transform both human and geographical landscapes forever.

A primary element for an information revolution is dissatisfaction over the status quo. Mankind’s frustrations over physical limitations would spur progressive thinking. Man wanted new tools. Man needed new tools. All six information revolutions relied on the needs and wants of the current society. And as the information revolutions succeeded one after the other, so were the complexities of the current society’s wants and needs.

It is interesting to note that the first information revolution occurred in order to satisfy a simple need – to be able to store knowledge and information. The primitive men and women totally revolutionized this world by inventing writing to satisfy their simple desires. Out of their simple desires came this new medium that eased man’s lifestyle and improved the way we stored knowledge. Whether by accident or by thought, the invention of writing can be summed as man’s greatest feat after language itself. Up to the present man’s complexities evolve from very basic needs to very fragmented and specialized needs – physical, social, psychological and spiritual. And revolutions serve as reactionaries created by this need.

Each revolution needed more than a precursor. They needed brave individuals to defy the rules and challenge the standards. These individuals were brave enough to risk their lives to improve man’s lifestyle – consciously or unconsciously. If these individuals have not taken a step ahead, mankind may have never progressed. Like heroes, they braved against the conformist and utilized their skills to form new technologies. They raised the bar to which all other aspectual developments would transpire. According to George Sand, “No one makes a revolution by himself; and there are some revolutions which humanity accomplishes without quite knowing how, because it is everybody who takes them in hand.” Inventors, businessmen and ordinary people all had a part in the information revolutions. Whether an innovator or a consumer, everyone took part in the global facelift.

Victor Hugo, a French poet, dramatist and novelist once wrote, “The brutalities of progress are called revolutions. When they are over we realize this: that the human race has been roughly handled, but that it has advanced.” The revolutions on printing and mass media occurred in a time of turmoil and great unease. The Dark Ages in Europe brought despair among the citizens and the turbulent mass shifts during the Industrial revolutions saw a widening of the gap between rich and poor.

Yet it seems that under such miserable circumstances man found hope through the books and written works. Amidst the ruins and tragedy, the tender and vicious, the progress and regression, man has found enlightenment in words. Information that can easily be passed gave hope. More than just a reactionary over satisfaction, the information revolutions encouraged man to rise. The human spirit never faltered and the information revolutions provided support. Revolutions refreshed the corrupt and rotten. More than just a reactionary they tapped each man’s emotional confidence. The revolutions now begin to alter the social aspects of man.

With the inventions came rich possibilities. Eric Hoffer puts it best: “The main effect of a real revolution is perhaps that it sweeps away those who do not know how to wish, and brings to the front men with insatiable appetites for action, power and all that the world has to offer.” The new challenges can now be hurdled. The information revolutions are no longer reactionaries or forms of encouragement but new found entertainment.

Indeed mass entertainment was born but its effect is in a personal level too. Entertainment to the formalist is diversion. In this sense, the information revolution on entertainment served as a form of escapism. Man can cut of links to the outside world and remain in peace and refinement: surrounded by music and hypnotized by visuals. The gap between rich and poor can be linked, even though temporarily, by this new and more accessible revolution. As time progressed, everyone would soon appreciate film, music and television.

Man may be oblivious to such revolution occurring but the effects are obvious. From dissatisfaction to desperate romantic, the individual begins to expect more when mass communication can give more.

From reactionary to encouragement then to entertainment, the information revolutions served different purposes. But not everything the information revolution has resulted to is a change for the better. The Stone Age was marked by man's clever use of crude tools; the information age, to date, has been marked by man's crude use of clever tools said man. Technologies compete to outdate each other. The human dialect of socialization is replaced by dependency over the new tools of communication. Our homes have been transformed thoroughly from a place of rest to a place of work, fun and rest. It is impossible not to see the negative consequences of the revolutions: it has become a heretic in the sense that it has defied man’s doctrine of labor. The tools work hard for us now. We have passed the genius stage to the mega-computers.

But all is not lost. Winston Churchill, a British politician, is quoted, “True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.”

With a surplus of information in our hands, we still remain the center of all information revolutions. It is good to remember though the information revolutions serve but does not dictate. From reactionary to encouragement, to entertainment, to lifestyle and to a highway to the future, the information revolution adapts together with the creator. Remember, all materials needed for the revolution to succeed simply came from man’s thought. Information revolutions may dare to be outstanding. But humanity would always remain the standard. When man deviates the revolution follows.

Paranoid

"It’s a lonely Monday afternoon. The grey clouds whisk above me bringing with it an infinite number of raindrops. The puddle of water transforms into a temporary prism forming a liquid silhouette of soft red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. The cold wind brushes my face like a dementor – taking all source of warmth in my body and soul.

Yet there is something immensely romantic about the melancholy. There is an awkward joy that can be felt each time the rain falls. My clothes can get dampened but my sense of security over the world is assured more. When the clouds cover the big blue sky, I feel safe under its cloak of condensed water.

But all sense of security is lost when the lightning strikes. I run for cover, speed to my room and hide under the covers. There is silence everywhere.

And then the lighting strikes again. It strikes at the same spot. I shiver. I turn on the radio and listen to some classical music. The weather report comes after a senseless blabber on some alien creatures watching the earth.

The absurdity of the early broadcast took almost forever. But music is finally fading in – “No More” plays while I dream of dancing the Tango alone. It’s getting late already. The wind now turns into a lashing monster and a special bulletin comes in. A few minutes later, people are screaming. A report comes in. There’s a thing loose and coming of from the ground. I heard news from the observatory a while ago. What’s happening? Is it the war? Is it?

And the radio broadcasts terrifying accounts. The romance I earlier felt fades into a dangerous tango between fear and excitement. What is happening? There’s fire. There’s something blazing according to the report. Are the Allies still intact? Is it the war? I should be safe. The consant barrage of beautiful music and bulletins on disaster makes my heart pulse."

Truly, whoever tuned in to the radio broadcast of H.G. Well’s War of the Worlds would’ve been petrified on that October night. World War Two was ongoing and the fear that has already stricken the minds of the people due to the global conflict is great. People were paranoid. As a result they were susceptible to even the least of emotional manipulation. What more if the potential fear over the unknown was tapped by such a master-planned and dramatic performance?

Back then the radio was a popular form of entertainment. People during those years would also get information from the radio. Yes, the people were suspicious always but the radio was something they could trust. Information was reliable through the radio especially with regards to the war.

Bulletins were another thing. Even now, I still get restless when a breaking news sign interrupts a normal program schedule. It must be an important event or happening to be broadcasted as a bulletin. Afterwards, seemingly realistic accounts “on-sight” would make people more restless and panic a bit. I myself would’ve listened more to the radio due to curiosity and excitement. Add to that the fact that the broadcast was in the evening when the darkness has set in. Plus you’re simply listening. You could only imagine the descriptions by the witnesses and analysis of the specialists.

I would’ve been really terrified by such a scenario broadcasted by the Columbia Broadcasting System. Listening to the performance was like listening to a real event. Music was played just like a normal radio station would. But as the bulletins started you couldn’t help but think of what’s happening. The information was fragmented at first and that added to the anxiousness. Who would want not to know what’s happening?

The whole broadcast was executed with such realism that anyone who was already overwrought by the War would’ve been easily terrified with the possibility of an invasion – not merely an invasion from Japan or the Soviet Union but a space invasion. The detailed accounts made it seem like it’s coming close to you. I would’ve huddled with someone waiting for more bulletins to come. You could sense the fear in the voices of the announcers and so-called witnesses. You could feel empathy over the possible casualties. You could feel excitement. You would wonder whether there are enough troops home to destroy the beasts – you could only visualize in your head how people were killed with ray guns. Is the military defense enough?

Who knows what could be lying outside? Are the extra-terrestrial creatures already near my home? How far-reaching is this realistic space invasion? The fear of the unknown and terrifying can be immense. The fact that’s it’s supposed to be happening near home would’ve driven people mad. You don’t see it as a performance or as a hoax anymore. You sense it’s real. That’s how potent the broadcast was. It gave you more thrill than Space Shuttle in EK.

"And then you try to calm yourself. You breathe rapidly. You can feel the sweat trickling down. Is it over? Then a final announcement:

Tonight the Columbia Broadcasting System and its affiliated stations coast-to-coast have brought you "The War of the Worlds," by H. G. Wells, the seventeenth in its weekly series of dramatic broadcasts featuring Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre on the Air.

Next week we present a dramatization of three famous short stories.
This is the Columbia Broadcasting System."

The Baygon Relations

I can’t even begin to imagine what life must be without communication. For someone who’s cynical and critical about everything, it’s such a big pain to always keep opinions to myself. And to be unable to exchange even a simple greeting would be an unbearable maybe even an impossible lifestyle to me.

The world today relies on being able to communicate. Perhaps the need to express yourself and be heard came innate to humans and long before all those crap on “be yourself” and “express yourself” and “be unique”. I certainly believe humans were meant to talk, to write and to share.

But we all have a tendency to forget why we talk in the first place and how crucial communicating is to us humans. We simply talk. And talk. And maybe even talk some more.

Since I shifted to AB Communication Arts I was branded the term “communication scholar”. From the general practitioner wannabe I’m now someone who’s trying to master no longer the anatomy of man and all its tangible forms but someone who’s allowing himself to finally understand and better appreciate why we talk, why we express and why we share.

Why do we communicate?

It’s a question that has always been there but I never answered or merely tried answering. It’s like most other questions that deal with the simplest but dares the brightest. And I feel apprehensive daring. But I need to try. Just for this instance.

If there’s one thing for sure we communicate because we want others to know our thoughts and feelings. We’re all far from the nomadic epoch. Globalization is the ringing bell today. We want to communicate because as an individual we want to set ourselves apart by having our own standpoints and perspective. But at the same time we want to hear that of others. We differ in opinion. But we’re all the same in the necessity to be heard.

All of us communicate. It is inevitable, communication. It’s a basic human need and privilege.

But there is more to the dabbling and babbling than what meet’s the eye and ears. Communication is not solely based on you talking. Everything we do has a response. Isaac Newton’s laws on motion, I believe, states the every reaction has an equal and opposite reaction.

Communicating does not live by bread alone. It lives on the response too. It’s not just one thing. It’s a collection of meaningful symbols used for exchange. It’s dynamic. It is two way, communication. It seems like all of us have mastered how to decode meanings but lest we don’t know, communication is more than that too.

So communication is not just talk and it’s not just mastering symbols. Communication is also satisfaction. It fulfills man’s desire to be heard. Through a medium, we are able to transcend geographical barriers, unify diverse interests and create a common ground to establish a socio-economic and political order which will benefit the world.

And all of us can communicate.

And all of us can harness such a potent instrument of change and influence. We choose how we use communication.

Everyday conversations and chatters can lead to many great things. Ideas are bullet proof. V, from the movie V for Vendetta, in his sought after revenge believes that man remains destructible but ideas and concepts are immortal in every aspect. Communication is a great gift which goes far more than the usual ideas. Communication is an exchange of ideas no matter what level or context. Communication is bullet proofed to the max.

We rely on communication to live. Even those whose senses are handicapped rely on communication to overcome their limitations.

How we use communication can be likened to a magic wand sans Harry Potter. We can swing our wands and distribute the magic over wide distances or simply create tricks to ease our daily lives. We entertain ourselves with magic spells. We even have specialized magic spells for specialized aspects in our lives.

But one can also harness communication to present propagandas and non-conformist ideas – in subtle forms or in less common, blatant strategies. Whichever we choose, communication or mass media in particular, can easily transmit these bullet proof ideas without sifting. We become all the more gullible to wrong notions and false truths. We can be forced tradition, even. Everything, every form of information can be easily transmitted without us knowing its credibility.

But we also rely on this mass communication to prepare ourselves. Through the different mediums available we can observe, predict and prevent events. But the other side of the cliff is also open. We can misinterpret, become presumptuous and loose proper discernment. We can interfere and disturb the process if we want to.

Communication is as vulnerable as it is as powerful. There is always change.

Yet all the while we still exchange. It’s a never ending process. Kris Aquino and Boy Abunda’s grapevine may end but our fascination to know and be known will always linger.

The same way an individual is inseparable from music (which is also a form of communication I believe); our need to communicate directs us on how we live. It inspires. But it’s not religion. It’s not something spiritual. But it is essential. It may not be as profound as philosophical thoughts but it can be as far-reaching. It might even be the most far-reaching of all human processes. And it might even be the most far-reaching of all living and non-living creatures’ processes.

Everywhere we go there is communication. We talk to ourselves. We talk to others. We talk to the world and share to the world all our inconsistencies and defects on blogs, podcasts and web accounts. Lights communicate with our cars. Cars communicate with cars. Dogs bark. Birds fly before earthquakes. Man is in contact everywhere.

The universe is communicating with us. The stars twinkle in the night. The comets sprinkle over the hemispheres.

The galaxy hears all the radio waves we emit.

Communication is more than a mass process or activity. Today we transmit a message that reverberates throughout the universe. Maybe even one day extra terrestrial creatures would pick up Magic 89.9’s radio waves.

Now, can you begin to imagine life sans communications?

Perhaps somewhere too in the heavens a Supreme Entity would be hearing all our worries, fears and needs.In a world where only a few things remain personal, it’s still nice to know and realize that amidst all of our web accounts and the openness of today’s lifestyle, we can still talk to someone privately - anytime. You know who.

Communication: the concept and state of exchanging information between two entities. Imagine life without it. Baygon?