Informal Education

There is a bevy of information out on the internet. There is a cool infographic that shows how much that estimated 1.2 Zettabytes of information is. To contain all that information, it would take a stack of fully loaded iPads reaching 339 miles into the air, which is technically space. The really scary stuff is how much that growth is accelerating. It is now estimated that the total amount of information that has ever existed will double within the next two years. That means that in the next two years we will create the same amount of data as all previous inhabitants of the Earth. We each can feel very proud in that accomplishment as the majority of it (around 70% by estimates) is user-generated.

The main fact of all those stats is that the amount of information, even on Youtube alone, is staggering. One of the coolest projects I have found in recent years is a convention that gets together and experts on certain topics come and explain the breakthroughs, that they have often been a part of. These talks are then broadcast to the hundreds of thousands of people who watch these talks and gain valuable knowledge and advice. You might have heard of them, the TED talks.

I absolutely love the TED talks. It is a way for people, just ordinary people to be taught amazing things by some of the world's most influential people. There are talks covering every category of interest from social media to religion to life advice, and my favorite, the scientific talks. There is one presentation about the recent studies on the mimic octopus that was particularly interesting. The sheer amazement and wonder this guy has about the skin coloration and behavioral patterns of the octopus is not only endearing but also a motivation and inspiration for my own love and interest into the sciences.

I also think being able to have access to this collaborative website will makes everyone smarter, more involved people. Not only can you watch master craftsmen and learned scholars conquer huge problems and mysteries, but you can become involved and create your own videos to leave a lasting impact on the total human knowledge.

There is an interesting exception to Darwin's theory, in which he stated that the traits that an individual acquires during his life are not passed on genetically to their offspring. Humans have developed a cohesive and ever-changing body of knowledge that we pass on to one another. The things we discover in our lives can be passed on to our future generations. This is the importance of language, and why we are in Language Arts. It is everyone's human duty to go out and contribute to the body of knowledge that makes up the human race.

Thanks for reading.