• Corpus ID: 166305987

The loss of knowledge in the information age

@inproceedings{Mittelstrass2010TheLO,
  title={The loss of knowledge in the information age},
  author={J{\"u}rgen Mittelstrass},
  year={2010}
}

• J. Mittelstrass
• Published 2010
• Education

At first sight it might seem as though the dream of the ‘enlightenment’ has become reality. A society begins to conceive of itself as a knowledge society, connecting its concept of knowledge with the concept of information, no longer with tradition and authority, and basing wisdom in knowledge again. Equally, the idea that only the scientific consciousness can be truly ‘gebildet’ or educated seems to gain reality. Education in the sense of ‘Bildung’ has always been the expression of wisdom, and most convincingly so where wisdom has remained close to knowledge, including scientific knowledge. In the idea of the knowledge society, the unity of information, knowledge and wisdom seems finally to have been accomplished. That appears true at first sight. A second look might prove more sobering. Let us begin with information and the concept of an information society. Information might get knowledge and society going, but it is not as a consequence better knowledge. The expression ‘information society’ designates a form of a society or economy in which the production, storage, processing, exchange, distribution, and the use of information and knowledge in the form of data, including ever‐developing technical means of interactive communication, are playing an increasingly dominant role. Important elements of this development are: