Are We Deaf to Technology?

There is a distinct relationship between the growth of technology and computers and the amount of information we're taking in every year. Both jacked up exponentially over the last 5 years and show no signs of slowing.

When did it become a recognized fact that every single day the rate of knowledge freely available to any person is going to be so much more than the day before?

The problem is, for every good, sweet, tasty piece of technology we ingest, there's always a bad meal waiting to happen. These tend to follow the course of the average unfortunate meal; it tastes great at first (the automobile) and then we start feeling a little iffy (car accidents) and finally the obvious conclusion (pollution).

Can we invent technology to fix problems faster than the repercussions of our most recent false steps? Is it a part of natural evolution that we will continue to gain the ability to fix these issues by learning from those very same mistakes?

Do we really have a choice?

How often do we think of these questions when: applying for a job, bidding on a project, making an investment, hiring new talent, planning marketing efforts and talking to customers?

Are we a part of the solution, or just another part of the problem?

There are a lot of questions here, so with all of our knowledge, what aren't we hearing?

[Rob Walker contributed to this entry.]