Wired’s Clive Thompson wrote a nifty little piece in this month’s issue that talks about the evolution of knowledge as we rapidly increase the accessibility of information via the web.  In this context, information refers to the raw, unfiltered “stuff” – whether factual or not – out there on the web and elsewhere, while knowledge is made up of the truths we are able to ascertain from said information.  The crux of the article is the idea of “culturally constructed ignorance,” whereby knowledge that would not normally be circumspect (eg. Obama being a Christian) is attacked by special interests who benefit from sowing doubt.  The concept is compelling because of its irony: in today’s day and age, with unparalleled access to huge depth and breadth of information made possible by technology, our social knowledge may not be any better off than it was in the days before the internet.

Consider the world wide web and its infinite number of echo chambers.  No matter what floats your boat, you can find an sympathetic, agreeable, and welcoming cadre of like-minded boaters out there somewhere.  The same goes for information – and especially misinformation.  If you believe that NASA faked the moon landings, you can find (a surprisingly large number of) people on the web who will verify the truthiness of your belief and fervently support you against the gullible fools who believe otherwise.  You can do the same for the oddball, totally insane idea of your choice.  But don’t do it too much; the intertubes get very scary when you learn what’s really out there.

Thoughtful writers have already expounded on how the age of Google has made people stupider, in that we allow ourselves to forget certain bits of information when we have the crutch of an immense reference database so handy.  While I disagree with the spirit – if not all the claims – of this idea, the related idea that the internet may have caused stupidity to propagate like never before rings true.  Or at least it rings true enough to make Thompson’s article an interesting read.  Tell me what you think.