information environmentalism

information environmentalism
n.
The movement that seeks to reduce information overload and its effects on people's lives.
—information environmentalist n.
Example Citations:
There's a growing "information environmentalism" movement in the United States against the overwhelming torrent of more media than any mind can cope with. Gurus of the movement are said to be throwing away their TV sets with the same ideological zeal with which feminist women are said, in the age just after the age of steam trains, to have burned their bras.
— "Dear Madge," Canberra Times (Canberra, Australia), May 30, 2004
The information age, it seems, is data-contaminated. And it's not just the volume of information that's worrisome; it's the lack of context in which it's delivered.
At least that is the argument of a new and growing group of people some call "information environmentalists." Their aim: to reclaim quiet mental space from the chirping persistence of cellphones, personal digital assistants, instant messaging, niche cable channels, and a virtual landscape littered with news, entertainment, and sales pitches.
"We are ready to see this new kind of information environmentalism, ready to ask about the pollution of our experience and our attention," says David Levy, professor at the University of Washington's Information School.
— Dean Paton, "E-serenity, now!," Christian Science Monitor (Boston, MA), May 10, 2004
Earliest Citation:
We no longer have information access but rather information excess and a massive pollution problem in the making. The landfills of our minds are brimming beyond capacity. If something is not done soon, we will need a Superfund of the intellect to clean up the muck in each of our heads. ...
George Bush promised to be our "environmental president." On the information issue, however, he has failed miserably. For a time he held firm, recycling one phrase — "read my lips" — over and over. When pressed on the issue of taxes while jogging, he altered only one letter: "Read my hips." This restraint nobly showed his information environmentalism.
— Mark Hall, "Purging information overload," Computerworld, February 11, 1991
Related Words:
newsfasting
Categories:

New words. 2013.

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