The information revolution is what is the process, what is its role?

Today, quite often one can hear arguments about the information society and the so-called information revolution. Interest in this topic is due to significant changes that occur almost daily in the life of each person and the world community as a whole.

What is the information revolution?

In the process of the development of human civilization, several information revolutions took place , as a result of which qualitative transformations took place in society that contributed to raising the standard of living and culture of people. In the most general sense, the information revolution is a significant improvement in social relations through fundamental changes in the collection and processing of information. It is generally known that information provokes change and is of great importance for social development. Each person, as he grows up, faces something new and unknown to himself earlier. This provokes a feeling of uncertainty and even fear. The desire to get rid of this feeling pushes to actions aimed at finding new information.

The volume of information is constantly increasing and at a certain point ceases to correspond to the capacity of communication channels, which entails an information revolution. Thus, the information revolution is a qualitative leap in relation to the methods of data processing. To date, the definition given by AI Rakitov has also become quite widespread. According to the scientist, the information revolution is an increase in the volume and change of tools and methods for collecting, processing, storing and transmitting information that is available to the public.

General characteristics of the first information revolution

The first information revolution began simultaneously with the spontaneous emergence of human articulate speech, that is, language. The emergence of speech is a necessity conditioned by the collective form of organization of life and joint labor activity, the development and very existence of which is impossible without an adequate information exchange between individuals. Language had a tremendous impact on people's consciousness and their perception of the world. Knowledge gradually accumulated and transmitted from generation to generation through numerous legends, legends and myths. For primitive society, "living knowledge" was characteristic. Their carriers, custodians and distributors were shamans, elders and priests, after the death of which some knowledge was lost, and their re-formation sometimes took more than one century.

The first information revolution has exhausted its capabilities and ceased to meet the demands of the times. That is why at some point it came to realize that it is necessary to create some auxiliary tools that would preserve knowledge in time and space. Such a tool became the documentary fixing of data in the future.

The distinctive features of the second information revolution

The second information revolution began about 5 thousand years ago, when writing appeared in Egypt and Mesopotamia, and then in China and central America. Initially, people learned to fix their knowledge in the form of drawings. The "drawing letter" was called pictography. Pictograms (drawings) were painted on the walls of caves or on the surface of rocks and depicted the moments of hunting, military scenes, love letters, etc. Due to the fact that the pictographic letter does not require special literacy and command of a certain language, it was accessible to everyone and Has survived to the present day.

With the advent of states, writing evolved. Governance of the country can not be imagined without an orderly written documentation that is necessary for securing order within the state, as well as for concluding political, trade and other types of contracts with neighbors. For such a rather complex action picture drawing is not enough. Gradually, the pictograms began to be replaced by conventional signs and graphic symbols, the pictures disappeared, and the letter became constantly more complicated. The number of literate people grew, especially after the invention of the alphabetic letter and the appearance of the first book. The written consolidation of information greatly accelerated the process of the exchange of social experience and the development of society and statehood.

The importance of the third information revolution

The third information revolution refers to the Renaissance. Most scientists associate its beginning with the invention of a printing press. The appearance of this innovation is the merit of the German Johann Gutenberg. The invention of printing made significant adjustments to the socio-political, economic and historical and cultural life of the population. Printing houses and book-selling establishments were opened everywhere, newspapers, notes, journals, textbooks, maps were printed, institutions were founded in which not only theology, but also secular disciplines such as mathematics, law, medicine, philosophy, etc. were taught. Industrial revolution, Which occurred in the XVIII century, would be impossible without the information revolution preceding it.

The Fourth Information Revolution

It began in the XIX century, during the invention and wide distribution of fundamentally new means of information communication, such as telephone, radio, photography, television, sound recording. These innovations allowed a lot of people, thousands of kilometers away from each other, to exchange voice messages with lightning speed. There has come a new stage in the development of society, since the emergence of technological innovation is always associated with economic growth and raising the standard of living and culture.

The Fifth Information Revolution

Many scientists consider the fourth and fifth stages not separately, but in the aggregate. They believe that these are the successive stages of the information revolution, which continues today. The achievements of the past were not only not destroyed, but also continue to develop, mutating and connecting with new technologies. Since the 50-ies of the XX century in their practical activities, people began to use digital computers. The process of information revolution acquires a truly global character, affecting each person individually and the world community as a whole. The widespread introduction and use of computer technology has provoked a real information boom. The information revolution is a step into a bright, beautiful and successful future.

Alternative Periodization of the Information Revolution

There are other options for the periodization of the information revolution. The most famous concepts belong to O. Toffler and D. Bell. According to the first of them, in the process of development of society, there are three waves: agrarian, industrial and information, which is based on knowledge. D. Bell also distinguishes three, not five periods. According to the scientist, the first information revolution occurred about 200 years ago, when the steam engine was invented, the second one - about 100 years ago, when astonishing successes in the field of energy and chemistry were recorded, and the third relates to the present. He argues that it is precisely today that mankind is experiencing a technological revolution, in which information and high-quality information technologies occupy a special place.

Importance of information revolution

Today, the process of informatization of society continues to unfold and improve . The modern information revolution has a tremendous impact on the life of society, changing the stereotypes of people's behavior, their way of thinking and culture. Transboundary global information and communication networks, which cover all continents of the Earth and penetrate into the home of almost every person, do not stop developing. Thanks to information revolutions, the cognized humanity, today it became possible to integrate all existing software and hardware in the world into a single information space in which both legal entities and physical as well as local and central government bodies operate.