Investigation: Information ecology

Slow Reader is a publication release by the Slow Research Lab with Valiz

I discovered this book called ‘Slow Reader’ by Ana Paula Pais and Carolyn F. Strauss. It has a collection of essays on research topics that pose a vision of human activity not at the centre of natural and built environments, but rather in balance and coherence with and withon other living systems.

The essay on Information ecology is of particular interest to me. Neils Schrader, co-head of the graphic design program at Royal Academy of Arts The Hague, speaks about the responsibility that we have towards the data we create and how our unconscious immersion into tech has blinded us from the consequences - on a personal, social and governance level.

Some excerpts:

If technology is the answer, what was the question?

A simple way for us to begin is by acknowledging that the accountability of the author doesn’t end with publishing the content, but rather goes on throughout the lifecycle of the digital information.

Design can play a crucial role in this (cloud storage, data harvesting, triangulation) by developing strategies that on one hand bring down the pace of communication and on the other stimulate a more holistic mediascape.

Not intending to eradicate the challenges of our ‘wired’ existence, but offer experiences that feel more coherent with our being. It’s about taking accountability for one’s role in the information ecology.

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