TheAgeOfInformation
ThoughtStorms Wiki
Update 2023 : This all sounds so cute. The reality, which we're living now, of TheEndOfConsensus, FakeNews and ConspiracyTheories is much darker.
Song by Momus
Lyrics here : http://www.phespirit.info/momus/19970107.htm
This is a public service announcement Ladies and gentlemen, we are now entering The age of information It's perfectly safe If we all take a few basic precautions May I make some observations? Axiom 1 for the world we've begun: Your reputation used to depend on What you concealed Now it depends on what you reveal The age of secretive mandarins who creep on heels of tact is dead: We are all players now in the great game of fact instead So since you can't keep your cards to your chest I'd suggest you think a few moves ahead As one does when playing a game of chess Axiom 2 to make the world new: Paranoia's simply a word for seeing things as they are Act as you wish to be seen to act Or leave for some other star Somebody is prying through your files, probably Somebody's hand is in your tin of Netscape magic cookies But relax: if you're an interesting person Morally good in your acts You have nothing to fear from facts Axiom 3 for transparency: In the age of information the only way to hide facts Is with interpretations, there is no way to stop the free exchange Of idle speculations In the days before communication privacy meant staying at home Sitting in the dark with the curtains shut unsure whether to answer the phone But these are different times, now the bottom line Is that everyone should prepare to be known Most of your friends will still like you fine X said to Y what A said to B B wrote an E-mail and sent it to me I showed C and C wrote to A: Flaming world war three Cut, paste, forward, copy CC, go with the flow Our ambition should be to love what we finally know Or, if it proves unloveable, simply to go Axiom 4 for this world I adore: Our loyalties should shift in view According to what we know And who we are speaking to Once I was loyal to you, and prepared to be against information Now I am loyal to information, maybe I'm disloyal to you My loyalty becomes more complex and cubist with every new fact I learn It depends who I'm speaking to And who they speak to in turn Axiom 5 for information workers who wish to stay alive: Supply, never withhold, the information requested With total disregard for interests Personal and vested Chinese whispers was an analogue game Where the signal degraded between brain and brain Digital whispers is the same in reverse The word we spread gets better, not worse Better, not worse X said to Y what A said to B B wrote an E-mail and sent it to me I showed C and C wrote to A: Flaming world war three Cut, paste, forward, copy CC, go with the flow Our ambition should be to love what we finally know Or, if it proves unloveable, simply to go