Philosophical Musings on the Underbelly of Information Age 1 Thomas J. Froehlich, Ph.D. School of Information Kent State University Professor Emeritus United States of America 863 Bryce Road Kent, OH, 44240
[email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5720-7606 Abstract: There is an underbelly of the Age of Information. Its opportunities and promises have been diverted to dubious ends, manipulating the users of information technologies for economic rewards and political power. Drawing and extrapolating on previous and current research, we pose different ways to characterize the Age of Information as the Age of Plato's Cave-Dwellers (inspired by Plato and Aristotle), the Age of Distraction (inspired by Heidegger), the Age of Disinformation (inspired by the manipulation of internet content to provoke information-disinformation wars), the Age of Surveillance Capitalism (inspired by information technology companies' use of software and apps to manipulate consumer behavior), and the Age of Inflamed Grievances (inspired by the use of internet sites and apps to solidify and inflame partisan political grievances so as to maintain, gain or manipulate political power). The last two pose the greatest dangers to the destruction of democracies, countries and the planet. Keywords: THE AGE OF DISINFORMATION; THE AGE OF DISTRACTION; THE AGE OF THE ANTI-ENLIGHTENMENT; THE AGE OF SURVEILLANCE CAPITALISM; THE AGE OF INFLAMED GRIEVANCES There has been a paradigmatic shift with the emergence of the Age of Information, built upon the speed, sophistication, miniaturization and widespread availability of computer technology and the networks that allow quick and easy access to all sorts of information from all sorts of sources.