Lesson 9: The Information Age (Gutenberg to
Social Media) personal computers
Technology has the power to transform society:
Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press
 German craftsman
 invented the printing press in the 15 th
century
Robert J. Samuelson
 Washington Post columnist
 sums up the vast changes that occured as
a result of the invention of printing
 “Gutenberg’s press led to mass literacy,
fostered the Protestant Refor-mation (by
undermining the clergy’s theological
monopoly) and, through the easy
exchange of information, enabled the
scientific revolution.”
Subsequent technological advances are also
often evaluated in terms of the effect they had on
society:
James Watt’s steam engine
 often credited with starting the
Industrial Revolution in England
Internet and associated information
technologies are said to be behind an
information revolution that is transforming the
way people live and work.
NOTE: No single person invented the Internet.
Internet was invented by:
 the culmination of advances in computer
technology
 reductions in the cost of manu-facturing
ARPANET
 the resulting increase in their popularity
 the evolution of networking tech-nology
Internet
 essentially a vast network of computers
 a decentralized network
 does not depend on a central mainframe
computer as networks did in the 1950s
and 1960s
 originated with the Cold War and the
U.S. Department of Defense’s
Advanced Research Projects Agency
(ARPA)
ARPA scientists and engineers wanted to create
a computer network in which any computer
could exchange information with any other
computer.
The destruction of one or more parts of the
network (perhaps from a Soviet at-tack) would
not disrupt communication between other
computers in the system.
Computers
 were first linked to form ARPANET, as
this early network was called in 1969
 throughout the 1970s and 1980s,
academic researchers and engineers
began linking their computers to
ARPANET as com-puters became more
common
 as the network grew (branching
haphazardly and quite beyond the
control of its original creators) it came
to be known as the “Internet”
 Advanced Research Projects Agency
Network
 experimental computer network that was
the forerunner of the Internet
Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA)
 arm of the U.S. Defense Depart-ment
 funded the development of the
Advanced Research Projects Agency
Network (ARPANET) in the late 1960s
 its initial purpose was to link computers
at Pentagon-funded research institutions
over tele-phone lines
E-mail
 one of the many ways that information
can be shared over the Internet
 one of the most popular uses for the
Internet in its early years
 a fast, easy, and free way to
communicate with colleagues
In order to share computer files across the
Internet:
 the computers on the network need to
share a common proto-col, or
standard, for how the data will be
transported electronically
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
 the most famous protocol
 the one that propelled the Inter-net to
nationwide popularity
 was invented by Tim Berners-Lee: a
British computer programmer who
developed the protocol as a convenient
 way of sharing documents over the
Internet
 In 1991, HTML became the basis for the
World Wide Web: a subset of the
Internet in which HTML documents are
grouped to form websites that are linked
to one another
World Wide Web
 made the Internet more easily accessible
and for many people, fun to use
 Internet users could now access still
pictures, animation, and sound instead
of just text
 the Internet experienced an enor-mous
surge in popularity as a result
throughout the 1990s
The phenomenal growth of the Internet is a
major component of the information
revolution.
Many of these applications are business-
oriented. The instantaneous access to
information that the Internet offers has
revolutionized the way many companies do
business. It has also given rise to a new type of
business: e-commerce.
E-retailers like Amazon.com essentially offer
customers a convenient, interac-tive,
customizable, and constantly upda-ted mail
order catalog.
While others, such as the auction site eBay,
offer services that would not be possible without
the World Wide Web.
E-commerce generated almost $47.6 billion in
revenue in 2001.
Robert J. Samuelson believes it may be too
soon to judge the impact of new information
technologies. “Technologies acquire historical
weight by reshaping the human condition,” he
writes. “As yet the Internet isn’t in the same
league with [past] developments.”
ISSUES RAISED BY INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
How Has the Information Age Affected
Society?
Computers, the Internet, and other
information technologies are extraordinarily
powerful tools. As such they have great
potential both to benefit and to harm societies
that embrace them.
Internet
 has been used to make businesses more
efficient, improve education, and create
online meeting places for people
separated by great distances
 has also produced a new avenue for
fraud, theft, invasion of privacy, and the
distribution of pornography and hate
speech
THE PRE-GUTENBERG WORLD
In the world before the introduction of the
printing press it was not possible to distribute
precise replicable information to a large number
of people.
Information could be captured, in the laborious
and time consuming process of hand-produced
books, scrolls or tablets, but access to this
information was restricted to a small elite group.
Transmission of knowledge thereafter had to
rely on purely word-of-mouth channels
The form of information that was prevalent was
therefore the story, this being the form best
adapted to surviving the process of ‘Chinese
whispers’ that mass communication involved.
Institutional development was limited, and
society tended to be dominated by religion and
feudal political systems, institutions which
were well adapted to the use of narrative or
hierarchy as means of propagation or control.
THE GUTENBERG REVOLUTION
It is widely acknowledged that the introduction
of the printing press was revolutionary in its
impact.
It was credited as being the catalyst for the
Renaissance: the development of science and
creating the pressures which forced power to slip
from the hands of monarchs and religious orders
and become shared across a much broader
section of society.
There is a temptation to see all of these shifts as
history and fail to see the extent to which, what
might be called the Gutenberg principle.
Gutenberg Principle
 continues to play an active role in the
shape and operation of society and
institutions today
 can be expressed as the fact that mass
distribution of information is possible,
but expensive
The effect of the Gutenberg principle was the
rise of institutionalized and mediated channels
to create the efficiencies and scale necessary to
manage the interaction between people with
information and needs on the one hand, and the
people who wanted that information or could
satisfy those needs.
THE POST-GUTENBERG WORLD
The emergence of the internet and the World
Wide Web in the 1990s was initially hailed by
many as ushering in new democratic age,
driven by much greater access to information.
While the internet had a dramatic impact, the
revolutionary shifts predicted did not occur. This
is because, the World Wide Web still
conformed to the Gutenberg principle.
Building a web site, accessing server space and
publishing information required both money and
technical expertise.
The reality of much greater access to
information was not matched by a greater
ability to publish it.
This changed with two developments:
1. The spread of broadband internet
access made it possible to easily both
upload and download all forms of
media: video, images and audio as well
as just text and transactions.
2. Tools emerged which made it simple for
people to publish or spread information.
(Blogging, YouTube and Flickr)
Information can now flow between one
individual and all of the potential individuals for
whom that information might be of relevance,
without any form of significant institutionalized
intervention (except the provision of a freely
availa-ble technological infrastructure).
This is what could be called the post-Gutenberg
principle perhaps a better term would be the
social information principle.
UNDERSTANDING THE POST-
GUTENBERG WORLD
Three ways in which the post-Gutenberg world
is already intruding:
 the decline (or slide into irrelevan-cy
and obsolescence) of institu-tions and
businesses for whom information
mediation is their principle function
 the rise of transparency and the
challenge to institutionalized trust
 the challenge to markets posed by
reduced costs of entry and the ability to
service niche demand
THE RISE OF SOCIAL MEDIA BY
ESTEBAN ORTIZ-OSPINA
Facebook
 the largest social media platform in the
world, has 2.4 billion users
Other social media platforms:
 Youtube and Whatsapp also have more
than one billion users each
Social media platforms are used by one-in-
three people in the world, and more than two-
thirds of all internet users.
Social media
 has changed the world
 the rapid and vast adoption of these
technologies is changing how we find
partners, how we access information
from the news, and how we organize to
demand political change
 started in the early 2000s
 the first social media site to reach a
million monthly active users was
MySpace: achieved this milestone
around 2004
Large social media sites that have been around
for ten or more years:
 Facebook
 YouTube
 Reddit
Tiktok
 launched in September 2016
 by mid 2018, it had already reached half
a billion users
 gained on average about 20 million new
users per month
In 2008, Hi5, MySpace and Friendster were
close competitors to Facebook, yet by 2012 they
had virtually no share of the market.
MySpace is remarkable considering that in 2006
it temporarily surpassed Google as the most
visited website in the US.
Twitter didn’t allow users to upload videos or
images in the beginning. Since 2011, this is
possible and today more than 50% of the content
viewed on Twitter includes images and videos.
Some perspective on how fast and profound
these rapid changes are:
 the percentage of US adults who use
social media increased from 5% in 2005
to 79% in 2019
 Facebook surged from covering around
1.5% of the world population in 2008,
to around 30% in 2018
The following chart provides some perspective:
 social media’s growth in the US is
comparable (speed and reach) to that of
most modern communi-cation-enabling
technologies, in-cluding computers,
smartphones and the internet
THE INFORMATION AGE (COMPUTER
AGE, DIGITAL AGE, NEW MEDIA AGE)
 a period in human history characterized
by the shift from traditional industry
that the Industrial Revolution brought
through industrialization, to an economy
based on information computerization
 the onset of the Information Age is
associated with the Digital Revo-lution,
just as the Industrial Revo-lution
marked the onset of the Industrial Age
 the phenomenon is that the digi-tal
industry creates a knowledge-based
society surrounded by a high-tech global
e-conomy that spans over its influence
on how the manufacturing throughout
and the service sector operate in an
efficient and convenient way
 in a commercialized society, the
information industry is able to allow
individuals to explore their personalized
needs, therefore simplifying the
procedure of ma-king decisions for
transactions and significantly lowering
costs for both the producers and buyers
 accepted overwhelmingly by
participants throughout the entire
economic activities for efficacy
purposes
 new economic incentives would then be
indigenously encou-raged, such as the
knowledge economy
Lesson 10: Biodiversity and the Healthy Society
Biodiversity and Ecosystem
 the vast variety of life forms in the entire
earth
 encompasses all kinds of life forms,
from the single-celled organisms to the
largest multi-celled orga-nisms
Biodiversity
 the source of the essential goods and
ecological services that constitute the
source of life for all and it has direct
consumptive value in food, agriculture,
medi-cine, and in industry (Villaggio
Globale, 2009)
 Concept of Ecosystem: study on the
relationship of the biotic (living
organisms) and the abiotic(the nonliving
organisms)
 plays a major role in this natural
dynamic
NOTE: We, as human inhabitants of the
ecosystem, must preserve and conserve the
biodiversity of all creatures.
CHANGES IN BIODIVERSITY
 alteration in any system could bring
varied effects
 a change In biodiversity could have
erratic effects not only in wildlife or
marine life but also in human beings
 biodiversity encounters changes that
may impact human health on such
different when our ecosystem is not well
taken care of
Threats to Biodiversity: Major Threats
Identified by United Nations’ Environment
Programme (WHO, n.d.)
 Habitat loss and destruction
 Alteration in ecosystem composi-tion
  Over-exploitation
 Pollution and contamination
 Global climate change
CONSEQUENCES OF BIODIVERSITY
LOSS
The basic concept about biodiversity
loss was from: Charles Darwin and Alfred
Russel Wallace
 the particular species making up an
ecosystem determine its productivity
 affect nutrient cycles and soil contents
 influence environmental condi-tions
(water, cycles, weather patterns, climate
and other non-biotic aspects)
As stated by Tilman, “The Earth will retain its
most striking feature, its biodiversity, only if
humans have the prescience to do so. This will
occur, it seems, only if we realize the extent to
which we use biodiversity.” (Rainforest
Conservation Fund, 2017)
NUTRITIONAL IMPACT OF
BIODIVERSITY
Biodiversity
 According to WHO, a vital element of a
human being’s nutrition because of its
influence to food production
 a major factor that contributes to
sustainable food production for human
beings
 a society or a population must have
access to a sufficient variety of
nutritious food as it is a determinant of
their health as human beings
 nutrition and biodiversity are linked at
many levels; the eco-system, with food
production as an ecosystem service
Health, Biology, and Biodiversity
 basic needs of living organisms: air,
water, food, and habitat are provided
by its environment
 the evolution of human beings was due
to the improved access to these basic
needs
 advances in agriculture, sanita-tion,
water treatment, and hy-giene have had
a far greater
Environmental Hazards
 increase the risk of cancer, heart disease,
asthma, and many other illnesses
 can be physical: pollution, toxic
chemicals, and food contami-nants
 can be social: dangerous work, poor
housing conditions, urban sprawl, and
poverty
 unsafe drinking water and poor
sanitation and hygiene can lead to
infectious diseases: diarrhea, cholera
ENVIRONMENT-RELATED ILLNESSES
Some human illnesses that are found to be
related with its environment include:
 Parkinson’s disease, heart disease,
cancer, chronic obstructive pul-monary
disease, asthma, dia-betes, obesity,
occupational injuries, dysentery,
arthritis, mala-ria, and depression
According to experts, climate change could also
have a serious impact on human health and
could deteriorate farming systems and reduce
nutrients in some foods.
Vulnerable Subpopulation
 a group with an increased susceptibility
to the adverse ef-fects of an
environmental risk fac-tor, due to their
age, genetics, health status, or some
other condition
 may fail to adequately protect
vulnerable subpopulations if an
environmental regulation is de-signed to
protect average mem-bers of the
population
THE IMPORTANCE OF BIODIVERSITY
TO HUMAN HEALTH
Health
 our most basic human right
 does not just mean freedom from illness,
but a state of overall social, emotional,
physical, spiritual and cultural welfare
 being well, and having the capacity to
look after our health and that of our
family or community, depends upon a
range of factors, including our economic
status and ultimately on our
environment
 one of the most important indicators of
sustainable deve-lopment
Biodiversity
  the foundation for human health
 by securing the life-sustaining goods
and services which biodiversity provides
to us, the conservation and sustainable
use of biodiversity can provide
significant benefits to our health
 the continuing loss of biodiversity on a
global scale represents a direct threat to
our health and well-being
NOTE: Without a global environment that is
healthy and capable of supporting a diversity of
life, no human population can exist.
BIODIVERSITY SUPPORTS FOOD
SECURITY, DIETARY HEALTH,
LIVELIHOOD SUSTAINABILITY
Genetic Diversity in Food Systems
 provides the foundation of crop
development and food security
 promotes resistance and resi-lience to
environmental stresses including pests
and diseases of crops and livestock
 diets based on a diversity of food
species promote health, and can help to
protect against disease by addressing the
problem of micronutrient and vitamin
defi-ciencies
 loss of agricultural biodiversity can
therefore threaten health, live-lihood
sustainability and our future security of
food and nutrition
BIODIVERSITY PROVIDES IMPORTANT
RESOURCES FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH
 studies of wildlife anatomy, physiology
and biochemistry can lead to important
developments in human medicine
Examples of species of interest to medical
science include:
 bears (for insights into osteo-porosis,
cardiovascular dis-orders, renal disease
and diabetes)
 sharks (osmoregulation and im-
munology)
 cetaceans (respiration and treat-ments
for divers suffering from decompression
sickness)
 horse-shoe crabs (optometry/op-
hthalmology and molecular cell biology)
BIODIVERSITY PROVIDES IMPORTANT
RESOURCES FOR TRADITIONAL AND
MODERN MEDICINE
 biodiversity loss can impact on
community traditions and liveli-hoods
centered on traditional medicinal
practices that utilize wild animals and
plants, parti-cularly for indigenous and
local communities
Modern drugs derived from wild species
include:
 inter alia pain killers (Zinconitide
from cone snail toxin)
 cardiac drugs (Lanoxin from Digitalis
plants)
 anti-cancer drugs (Taxol from Taxus
trees and Hycamtin from Camptotheca
trees)
 treatments for diabetes (including
Exanitide from Heloderma lizards)
BIODIVERSITY PLAYS A ROLE IN THE
REGULATION AND CONTROL OF
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
 biodiversity loss and ecosystem change
can increase the risk of emergence or
spread of infectious diseases in animals,
plants and humans, including
economically important livestock
diseases, zoonotic outbreaks and global
pandemics
 outbreaks of SARS, Ebola, Marburg,
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, avian
influenza and malaria have been
attributed to human impacts on
biodiversity, the wildlife trade or
unsustainable land use change
BIODIVERSITY HAS SOCIAL,
CULTURAL AND SPIRITUAL
IMPORTANCE WITHIN COMMUNITIES
 ecosystem change can result in
disconnection of populations from open
spaces or the wider country-side, with
negative implications for physical and
mental well-being and loss of “sense of
place”
 has been linked to an increased
prevalence of ‘diseases of affluence’
(diabetes, obesity, cardio-pulmonary
illness) and psychological disorders in
many communities
 access to ‘greenspace’ (natural and
artificial) are associated with better
health outcomes, shorter hospital visits
 and reduced convalescence time for
patients
 an awareness of environmental values
and respect for other species has been
associated with reduced propensity
towards anti-social behaviour in children
and young adults
CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY IS
ESSENTIAL FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
ADAPTATION
 climate change will have a range of
significant impacts on human health,
many of which are directly associated
with climate impacts on ecosystems
 changes in the ecology of pathogens, or
in the populations or distribution of
disease vectors such as mosquitoes,
could lead to changes in disease patterns
and increase the risk of outbreaks
 loss of ecosystem services also places
communities at greater risk from other
climate impacts (ex-treme weather
events, drought and crop failure)
INTACT ECOSYSTEMS CAN REDUCE
DISASTER RISKS AND SUPPORT RELIEF
AND RECOVERY EFFORTS
 biodiversity and healthy eco-systems
can provide important natural buffers
against natural disasters (floods, drought
and landslides)
 habitat loss is also a contributory factor
in desertification and dryland salinity,
impacting on livelihoods community
stability
 those who are poor or sick, or who
experience low levels of livelihood
security, are likely to be at greatest risk
from such events
Genetically Modified Organism (GMO)
 an organism that has had its DNA
altered or modified in some way through
genetic engineering
 have been altered with DNA from
another organism (a bacterium, plant,
virus or animal)
 are sometimes referred to as
"transgenic" organisms
 are already very common in the farming
industry
ex) genetics from a spider that helps
the arachnid produce silk could be
inserted into the DNA of an ordinary goat
CRISPR
 a novel genome editing tool
 has allowed geneticists to breed GMO
pigs that glow in the dark by inserting
jellyfish bioluminescence genetic code
into pig DNA
 is opening doors to genetic
modifications the likes of which were
unimaginable just a decade ago
 most common genetic modifi-cations are
designed to create higher yield crops,
more con-sistent products, and resist
pests, pesticides and fertilizer
 a technology that can be used to edit
genes and, as such, will likely change
the world
 a way of finding a specific bit of DNA
and alter that piece of DNA
Genetically Modified Food
 According to the National Library of
Medicine (part of the National Center
for Biotechnology Informa-tion, or
NCBI), genetically engi-neered, or GM
foods are those that have had foreign
genes from other plants or animals
inserted into their genetic codes
 has resulted in foods that are
consistently flavored, as well as resistant
to disease and drought
 NCBI also maintains a list of potential
risks associated with GM foods,
including genetic altera-tions that can
cause environmen-tal harm
Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt) Genetics
 According to the World Health
Organization, one of the most widely
used methods for incor-porating pest
resistance into plants
 a bacterium that produces proteins that
repel insects
NOTE: GMO crops that are modified with the
Bt gene have a proven resistance to insect pests,
thus reducing the need for wide-scale spraying
of synthetic pesticides.
ARE GMOS SAFE?
Anti-GMO activists argue that GMOs can
cause environmental damage and health
problems for consumers.
Center for Food Safety
 calls the genetic engineering of plants
and animals potentially "one of the
 greatest and most intractable
environmental chal-lenges of the 21st
century”
Institute for Responsible Technology,
 a group of anti-GMO activists
 “Genetically modified foods have been
linked to toxic and allergic reactions,
sickness, sterile and dead livestock, and
damage to virtually every organ studied
in lab animals"
As You Sow
 a non-profit environmental watchdog
focusing its research on how corporate
actions affect our environment,
including food production
Christy Spees
 a program manager with As You Sow
 GMO foods are dangerous "because the
modifications are centered around
resistance to toxic substances, such as
pesticides and certain fertilizers. When
dangerous chemicals are applied, plants
use them to grow, and the food itself can
be detrimental to our health"
WHY GMOS ARE GOOD?
Many scientific organizations and industry
groups agree that the fear-mongering that runs
through discussions of GMO foods is more
emotional than factual.
American Association for the Advance-ment
of Science (AAAS) - 2012
 "Indeed, the science is quite clear: crop most regulated and tested product in
improvement by the modern molecular agricultural history."
techniques of biotech-nology is safe," GMO Impact on Health
 “Consuming foods containing Critics of GMOs mention a number of
ingredients derived from GM health concerns related to the consumption for
(genetically modified) crops is no GMOs:
riskier than consuming the same foods 1. Harm from Bt Protein
containing ingredients from crop plants 2. Allergies
modified by conventional plant 3. Constituents that can Alter Nutrient
improvement techniques.” Bioavailability
Others point to the benefits of sturdier crops 4. Random Gene Insertion
with higher yields: 5. Lack of Long-Term Studies
 "GM crops can improve yields for
farmers, reduce draws on natural
resources and fossil fuels and provide
nutritional benefits.” (A statement on
the website for Monsanto: the world's
largest manufacturer of GMOs)
GMO LABELING DEBATE
 In November 2015, the FDA issued a
ruling that only requires additional
labelling of foods derived from
genetically engi-neered sources if there
is a material difference (different nu-
tritional profile) between the GMO
product and its non-GMO equivalent
 the agency also approved Aqua
Advantage Salmon, a salmon designed
to grow faster than non-GMO salmon
 According to Monsanto, "there is no
scientific justification for special
labelling of foods that contain GM
ingredients. We support these positions
and the FDA's approach."
 According to GMO Answers, GMO
agricultural products are "by far the