Abstract
The information society is upon us and with it comes the constant barrage of information accessible wherever, whenever. Infostorms explores the role of knowledge (or lack thereof) prevalent in society, and investigates the dangers lurking in information technology and democracy as a whole.
Information is a condition for a robust democracy; people should vote based on sound information. But sound information doesn’t come easy and without labor. It must be properly handled and formatted before it is useful for deliberation, decision and action. In the information age, understanding the means by which information is processed becomes a crucial democratic instrument for the individual as well as the group.
With points of departure in philosophy, social psychology, economics, and choice- and game theory, Infostorms shows how information may be used to improve the quality of personal decision and group thinking but also warns against the informational pitfalls which modern information technology may amplify. Covering topics including the continued war efforts, the social media success, polarization in politics, stock, science or opinion bubbles this talks offers overview on information (technology) and valuable guidance on how to take information punches.
Bio: Vincent F. Hendricks is Professor of Formal Philosophy at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, Elite Researcher of the Danish State. He is the author of many books among them Infostorms, (Copernicus Books / Springer, 2014), Agency & Interaction, forthcoming Cambridge University Press 2014), Mainstream and Formal Epistemology (Cambridge University Press, 2007), The Convergence of Scientific Knowledge (Springer, 2001). He is also author and editor of numerous papers and books on formal epistemology, methodology, logic, information processing, bubble studies and democracy. Hendricks is editor-in-Chief of the journal Synthese, the bookseries Synthese Library, New Waves in Philosophy, Palgrave Innovations in Philosophy Series, Philosophy Texts and area editor for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.