Excellent post. Towards the end of the article he uses the phrase, "This crisis of causality". That for me sums it all up. People should take more time to look objectivly at this whole subject. Ironically, objectivity can breed uncertainty whena picture is incomplete (almost always). Therefore a rational scientific approach which is held by the new Keepers of the Knowledge the scientists (to use mythological terms. i'm sorry, I couldn't help myself) causes uncertainty in those partially exposed, but not imersed in, objective scientific reasoning. So we hear every day of new advances with the potential to transform our lives but have no idea how this conclusion was reached, or wouldn't completely understand if we did. This uncertainty, coupled with advances almost daily, coupled with mass media which reports on such things, but usually "dumbs it down", is a ripe breeding ground for conspiracy theory. That is just one example - probably the advent of global communication networks is the most radical cultural change to happen since Adam said hello to Eve (before you all pounce on me for that one, I'm using a metaphor!). As Furedi points out, every aspect of public life is under the microscope, with little to no ONE prevailing account. Knowledge is the serpent, or Pandora's box. We can't help ourselves, we are human, but there are bad things that come along with it, as well as great things. Perhaps at the end of this phase in human history we may see a more equal society to any that has ever existed on this planet. Perhaps.
We seem to have reached a paradigm, and it is this. It is a paradigm for the self, for the ego, and how it relates to others, and to society as a whole. What mass communication has made painfully obvious is that at a certain point, when a population reaches a certain point, or is free enough to express itself, the individual ceases to matter on that level. The myth of the nation is too eroding, and that was something to fall back on in the past, but is now relegated to a cultural construct, as peopel see economic factors moving regardless of international borders. So, more than ever, people feel it is harder to be someone great.
Now, that's fine if you're happy with your lot. But there is a real fear that your voice will simply get lost in all the confusion.
