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Page 9
Long, thoughtful analyses and small, unpopular data sets are
often overwhelmed in such a system. Similar processes are at work
in television; the metaphors of the TV world are rapidly appearing
in the network world.
One can successfully argue that Earth science is currently
limited by the lack of data (or at least the correct data), but an
equally serious problem is the inability to synthesize large,
complex data sets. This is a problem without a technological
solution. While information systems can help, they will not
overcome this hurdle. Delivering more data at a faster rate to the
scientist will obscure this fundamental problem. Indeed, technology
may give the appearance of solving the problem when in reality it
exacerbates it. As stated by Jacob Bronowski,
Networks are useful. But as scientists, we must be aware of the
fundamental changes that networks bring to the scientific process.
If our students rely only on networks to locate data as opposed to
making real-world observations, if they cannot use a library to
search for historical information, if they are not accountable for
information that appears on the network, if they cannot form
reasoned, logical arguments, then we have done them a great
disservice.
The balance between market forces with their emphasis on
short-term returns for individuals and infrastructure forces with
their emphasis on long-term returns for the common good must be
maintained. There is a role for both the private sector and the
public sector in this balance. At present, the balance appears to
be tilted toward the short term, and somehow we must restore a
dynamic equilibrium.
Notes
[1] Roszak, Theodore. 1994. The Cult of
Information: A Neo-Luddite Treatise on High-Tech, Artificial
Intelligence, and the True Art of Thinking. University of
California Press.
[2] Miller, Mark Crispin. 1988. Boxed
In: The Culture of TV. Northwestern University Press.
[3] U.S. Government Accounting Office.
1995. "Earth Observing System: Concentration on Near-term EOSDIS
Development May Jeopardize Long-term Success," Testimony before the
House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, March 16.
[4] Negroponte, Nicholas. 1995. "000 000
111—Double Agents," Wired, March.
[5] Hardin, Garrett. 1968. "The Tragedy of
the Commons," Science 162:1243–1248.
[6] Postman, Neil. 1992. Technopoly:
The Surrender of Culture to Technology. Knopf, New York.
[7] Stoll, Clifford. 1995. Silicon
Snake Oil: Second Thoughts on the Information Superhighway.
Doubleday, New York.
[8] Postman, Technopoly, 1992.
[9] Physics Today. 1995. "Roundtable:
Whither Now Our Research Universities?" March, pp. 42–52.
[10] Roszak, The Cult of
Information, 1994.
[11] Postman, Technopoly, 1992.
[12] Miller, Boxed In, 1988.
[13] Stross, Randall. 1993. Steve Jobs
and the NeXT Big Thing. Atheneum, New York.
[14] Postman, Technopoly, 1992.
