The Third Information Crisis by Naomi Alderman 

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The Third Information Crisis by Naomi Alderman: Uli That Never Fades

The Third Information Crisis by Naomi Alderman

Uli That Never Fades

BBC Radio 4 - The Third Information Crisis by Naomi Alderman, Uli That Never Fades

The invention of writing brought about our first information crisis.

In this episode, Naomi considers the impact of the first information crisis – the invention of writing.  Before writing, she argues. ‘there was - in a real sense – no such thing as history’. The advent of writing enabled belief systems to flourish, brought into question old hierarchical structures, and sped up our culture forever.   But did it also devalue shared memory, and traditional oral cultures,  meaning societies came to value elderly people less?  

Written and read by Naomi Alderman
Produced by Di Speirs.

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Naomi Alderman argues we are living through the third great information crisis.

After writing and printing, Naomi Alderman argues that digital communication has brought about the third great information crisis.

In this wide-ranging series, award-winning novelist Naomi Alderman, author of The Power and The Future, argues we are living through the third great information crisis. Following the invention of writing, and then printing, we now have digital communications technology. In what she describes as a 'speculative historical project', Naomi traces the parallels between these moments, asking if we can learn from the past to help us cope with the 'enormous wave of information'  from the internet and social media that we are all faced with today. Drawing on the work of philosophers and historians, she explores the way new technologies open up new ways of thinking and their enormous impact on our society.

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