Information Glut: From Critique to Conspiracy Theories

This report delves into the concept of 'information glut' in the post-modern era, examining how the abundance of information impacts society, truth, and critical thinking. It analyzes the arguments of Andrejevic, highlighting the shift from critique to conspiracy theories due to information overload and competition among media channels. The report discusses challenges to objective truth, the 'tyranny of the anecdotal,' and provides examples like the World Trade Center attack and moon landing conspiracy theories. It questions the applicability of Enlightenment-era concepts of truth in the post-modern age and whether facts remain objective, offering a critical assessment of the readings and posing insightful questions for further discussion. The report also addresses fact-checking in the context of media and political discourse.

Running head: INFORMATION GLUT
INFORMATION GLUT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1INFORMATION GLUT
The information revolution in the post modern era has indeed contributed substantially
towards the building a vibrant civic society, has upheld the principle of public accountability and
has also encouraged the exchange of opinion in the public sphere. The plethora of information
that has available at the behest of the masses catering to different which is indicative of the fact
that the masses are not gullible and they cannot be made to believe anything that is projected in
the media and that it is possible for the masses to exercise their judgement with regard to
determining the validity and truthfulness of a particular piece of information. This is as far as the
positive aspect of the information revolution is concerned. However on the flipside as argued by
Zizek that the overload of information and most importantly the competition among the channels
meant for dissemination of information to reach the heights of fame, and that has led to the
transformation of critique into conspiracy theories. Thus that belies the conception that media
and abundance of information makes exercising of intellectual autonomy easier, rather the
intellectual autonomy is being impeded by making the masses believe in what the media wants to
portray (Andrejevic).
The age of the proliferation of the information has also created difficulties with regard to
cutting through the glut as the information and the counter information has led to a phenomenon
whereby the truth gets clouded. The conception of fact and truth being a result of empiricism,
objective applicability and impartiality, has been a legacy of the Enlightenment, and the
manifestation of it is not found in the post modern age of information proliferation, as in this age
the manifestation of the enlightenment conception of the truth and the fact is absent. That is due
to the fact that the post modern society is characterized by “tyranny of the anecdotal” which
indicates at the fact that there are a plethora of truth and each party has a version of truth hence

2INFORMATION GLUT
the element of impartiality is quite less (Andrejevic). These are the central arguments of the
concerned chapters.
The arguments provided by Andrejevic are valid and applicable in the practical world as
well. Andrejevic has mentioned of the attack at the World Trade Centre as a planned detonation
as an example of counter truth. There are various other examples as well. The landing of Neil
Armstrong at the moon has been alleged as being an orchestrated drama rather than being a true
account, which counters the narrative that Neil Armstrong was the first man to land on the moon
(Nye). Anti Israeli propaganda also alleges that the Holocaust had not happened at all, which
counters the generic narrative of the mass killing of Jews in Europe (Finkelstein).
Two key questions that emerges out from the discussion are:-
- Is the concept of truth as gained from Enlightenment Philosophy applicable in the post
modern age?
- Are truths and facts any longer objective in the post modern era?

3INFORMATION GLUT
References
Andrejevic, Mark. Infoglut: How too much information is changing the way we think and know.
Routledge, 2013.
Finkelstein, Norman. "The Holocaust Industry." Index on Censorship 29.2 (2000): 120-129.
Nye, David E. "Don't Fly Us to the Moon: The American Public and the Apollo Program."
Foundation (1996): 69.