Global Information Seeking



Return to: | Internet Peace Initiative | Earth Portal Controls | Home |

The birth of the internet has become the 20th centuries most effect tool for global communications in the history of the human race. As we approach the 21st century the extent to which news services, research institutes, and personal web sites have been created affords the internet user, with the aid of the search engines, to extract just about any piece of information possible that has been generated by the human mind. However, the data glut can not be made into useful information without some guiding principle that places the information into a framework of "knowledge enhancement" or an effective whole systems strategy for some sought after goal. Otherwise, all the information would be just that, a lot of information without any basis for its being applied to any problem needing a solution

This paper is being written to show that the application of diverse pieces of information, when synthesized, can lead to the awareness of a problem as well as to it's solution. One problem that faces all of humanity is its population growth, and the demands that growth is placing on the self generating eco-system called Earth. Many times we read about symposiums or summits, or international congresses which are designed to look at specific problems. The Earth Day Summit held in 1992 in Rio De Janeiro is an example of nations of the world looking at the fragile environment of the Earth, and how humankind was encroaching upon it. Many would say not much progress came out of that summit. The Cairo conference on population is another example of the need to address a problem as well as the WomanÍs summit in China.

Most often these summits are held, and the attendees return home, and thatÍs the end of the awareness gleaned from the meetings

The internet is an ongoing mirror of the human condition, and if the data is juxtaposed in a meaningful way there can be warning signals to prompt immediate action. The interrelationship of events, as well as scientific achievements can take place without any concern on the effects to the other parts of the planet, human beings, and the eco-system. The rate of invention and discovery is placing new demands on the ability to see the effects of any one of these discoveries or even several of the new discoveries.

For this reason I have chosen, as an example, a way in which we, as a global community, and "information citizens" can use the internet for our sustained growth into the future. This paper is using news and research taken from all over the world to indicate that there is a relationship at stake in our continual evolution into the future, and the success of that evolution is going to depend on our ability to listen to one anothers concerns, and recognize our expressed problems and our suggested solutions. Its all on the internet for our inspection and for direct action.

The model for a sustained future growth has to be identified. The model I am suggesting is very simple and examples will be offered to demonstrate my point.

Internet Global Information Seeking Model:

  1. Recognize the concerns
  2. Identify the problems
  3. Locate the solutions

In this model the concern is coming from a Buddhist monk living in Thailand. The problems are coming from Iowa with genetic engineering, and the Indian Ocean with pollution, and the solution is coming from Switzerland. These parts of the model are not by themselves going to be as effective in their announcements as is the relationships between the models parts, and the underlying causes of each of these parts. The monk sees globalization as a harmful movement whereas the entrepreneur in Switzerland sees globalization as a evolutionary part to the human race. The genetic engineer sees food genetically harmful to humans, and the monk sees the large multinational companies causing the removal of the small farmer. The haze over the Indian Ocean is as large as the as the United States, and the food chain in the ocean is being affected through a lack of sunlight. Large multi-nationals are producing more pollution, creating the haze, and offering genetic seeds to combat low yield food crops. The monk see this as the elimination of the small community farmer.

The internet has the ability to reveal these inter-relationships when a model is brought forth to see the damage that can be done to this planet when other concerns are not listened to.

In my opinion, the result of using this model, is that there should be no genetic engineering to create food crops, multi-nationals should cease using the profit motive for self gain, and the small community farmer should be supported at all cost.

In order to demonstrate this model the following information will be sited as found on the internet.

The Concern

The Problems Possible Solutions

A Global Information Seeking Approach

Related Link


Return to |Top | Internet Peace Initiative | Earth Portal Controls | Home |

willard@earthportals.com
©1995-2002 Earth Portals