The role of information in the life of society briefly. Information and its properties. Information Security Plan

Term "information"(translated from Lat. "informatio") means information, a message about the state of affairs or someone’s activities, information about something. Until the middle of the 20th century. this concept meant any information. However, Academician A. Kolmogorov gave it a broader definition, considering information as the fundamental basis of all new and promising branches of science and technology (cybernetics, theory of organization and management, systems engineering, etc.). At the present stage, the problem of information is considered one of the most pressing and fundamental problems associated with the scientific and technological revolution. It is characterized, in particular, by the transfer of information functions from humans to machines on a wide scale.

Over the past three decades, another term with a similar meaning has become widespread in society - “informatics,” which usually means information plus automation. The London Institute of Information Scientists defines it clearly as follows: “Computer science is concerned with the theory, methodology and practice of presenting information primarily (but not exclusively) to support professional and academic activities. To this end, it studies information from its creation to its use, and its transmission to in various forms and through various channels."

Since the disseminated information reaches hundreds of millions of people, it becomes an increasingly noticeable material force that affects not only production, technology, economics, politics, and the social sphere, but also the nature of modern thinking. The information revolution, therefore, represents the most important link in the complex network of social processes and phenomena of our time.

Various aspects of informatization and the role of information in modern society were studied by such prominent scientists as N. Wiener, K. Shannon, W. Ashby, L. Brillouin, A. Berg, V. Glushkov, N. Amosov, A. Kolmogorov, etc. The Philosophical Encyclopedic Dictionary contains the following interpretation of the concept of information: 1) message, information about the state of affairs, information about something transmitted by people; 2) reduced, removed uncertainty as a result of receiving a message; 3) a message inextricably linked with control, a signal in the unity of syntactic, semantic and pragmatic characteristics; 4) transmission, reflection of diversity in any objects and processes of inanimate and living nature.

In this context, the most important properties of information should include the following: a) adequacy – correspondence to real processes and objects; b) relevance – compliance with the tasks for which it is intended; V) correctness – correspondence of the way of expressing information to its content; G) accuracy - reflection of relevant phenomena with minimal distortion or minimal error; d) relevance, or timeliness – the possibility of its use when the need for it is especially great; e) universality – independence from individual private changes; and) degree of detail – detail of information. It is also important to note the property of information to reflect various social objects, phenomena and processes, i.e. reliability. In sociology and other social sciences, many other properties of information are distinguished, such as reliability, representativeness, consistency, quality, etc.

In addition, information can be studied in three main her aspects: 1) pragmatic – in terms of its usefulness in achieving the purpose for which it is intended; 2) semantic – in terms of its content and correct interpretation; 3) syntactic – depending on the technique of its presentation and transmission. An important aspect of the essence of information, in our opinion, is technological. In this aspect, a system of various technologies for working with information is considered.

It is necessary to take into account that information can accumulate, get lost, become contaminated and become denser. In this regard, it represents an important resource of society, which has much higher value than other resources, such as energy resources or minerals. In addition, in modern society information performs very important and diverse functions. Firstly, thanks to it, society is characterized by social memory, heredity and continuity of development. Secondly, it represents the main means (resource) of social management. Third, Without information, personality formation, its socialization, training and education are impossible. Fourthly, she is the bearer of all forms and manifestations of culture.

With the development of society, it constantly the role of information resources is increasing, in which all available information about various sectors of human life is generalized and concentrated. The components of this process are, as a rule, a general increase in the volume of information, as well as an increase in economic, social, political and other effects from its use. People obtain and use information to satisfy their basic life needs. Its economic effect depends mainly on the expenditure of resources to obtain it. It is customary to distinguish three options for the efficiency of using information (Fig. 27).

For option A characterized by an increase in the efficiency of information in proportion to the consumption of resources. In option B efficiency quickly peaks and declines. The most interesting option IN, which is characterized by exponential growth in the efficiency of information use.

The trend towards an increasing role of information in the life of modern society was conceptualized by D. Bell, Z. Brzezinski, G. Kann, A. Toffler and other prominent researchers within the framework of the concept of post-industrial development of modern society. The implementation of this trend, according to these scientists, should in the future lead to the formation of an information society, which is characterized by the following:

In economics - small organizational and economic forms that replace traditional bulky corporations;

In the social sphere - the emergence of information communities and the extensive intellectualization of people’s activities, as well as their concentration in the sphere of production and processing of information;

In the spiritual sphere - a widespread computer revolution, as a result of which a single world intelligence will arise;

In the sphere of democracy - overcoming previous forms of alienation of people and the emergence of new contradictions between “smart” and “stupid”, educated and uneducated, which replace the main contradiction of industrial society between the poor and the rich.

Rice. 27. Options for obtaining economic benefits from using information:

E - information efficiency; RR - resource consumption

In this concept, two principles are intertwined: rational and irrational. If we try to separate the rational grains from the irrational chaff, it becomes clear that the growing trend in the development of human society in the coming decades of the 21st century. there will be widespread deployment and technologization information processes. In addition, the concepts of the information society are currently being implemented very quickly, especially in highly developed countries. In the economies of these countries, giant corporations that arose at the peak of industrial development are losing their influence. As Ukrainian researcher E. Marchuk notes in this regard, the number of employees in those corporations that still continue to hold and strengthen their positions is rapidly declining. For example, the share of employment in US manufacturing has declined from 34% of the total labor force in 1950 to 15% today. Approximately a third of these people are not industrial workers, but specialists who deal with information: accountants, managers, designers, etc. Costs on information account for on average three-quarters of the added value of modern products. Along with this, such dynamic processes are taking place as a rapid reduction in the time interval between the key stages of scientific and technological progress: discovery (invention), bringing it to the stage of technology and introduction into the production process; human intellect becomes the immediate and main productive force of society; there is a “hunt for intelligence” and its import into leading countries; education, communication systems, databases, computer technology.

The currently observed information explosion was caused by the scientific and technological revolution in the second half of the 20th century, which gave rise to a dynamic process of multiplication of scientific knowledge, its exponential growth. The volumes of scientific, economic, political and sociocultural information are growing at a fairly high rate in the modern world. Thus, the volume of scientific information doubles in 10-15 years. However, in various branches of science, social and practical activities of people, the pace of information production is far from the same. It is no coincidence that many researchers talk about a “megabit bomb”.

Therefore, real difficulties arise in working with information. It becomes quite difficult to find, produce, store, process and use it. The volume of information is now so great that there has been a crisis in some traditional methods of information activity that have developed over many centuries. At the same time, the increased growth of information volumes in modern society leads to a whole complex of social problems, the most important of which are the following:

The volume of educational and scientific information is growing rapidly, which leads to real difficulties in the socialization of the individual in general and to the complication of his educational and professional training in particular. The duration of people's education is lengthening, workloads are increasing, and the time for young people to enter active labor is increasing;

The infrastructure of information is expanding rapidly, which significantly modifies all spheres of life and puts modern man in front of a “shock” situation, highlighting the problem of people adapting to new, unusual living conditions, which naturally leads to negative consequences for them (information overload, mental illness, etc.);

The volume of information is growing often uncontrollably, spontaneously, on a large scale and all-encompassing. Apparently, the problem of information is one of the leading global problems of modern civilization.

In the early stages, the storage medium was memory, and information was transmitted orally from one person to another. This method of transmitting information was unreliable and subject to great distortion.
problems, due to the natural property of memory to lose rarely used data.

As civilization developed, the volumes of information that needed to be accumulated and transmitted grew, and human memory It was no longer enough - writing appeared. This great invention was made by the Sumerians about six thousand years ago. It allowed, along with simple records of bills, bills, and recipes, to record observations of the starry sky, the weather, and nature. The meaning of information messages has changed. It became possible to summarize, compare, and rethink previously stored information. This, in turn, gave impetus to the development of history, literature, exact sciences and ultimately changed public life. The invention of writing characterizes the first information revolution.

The further accumulation of information by humanity led to an increase in the number of people who used it, but the written works of one person could be the property of a small circle. The contradiction that arose was resolved by the creation of the printing press. This milestone in the history of civilization is characterized as the second information revolution (began in the 16th century). Access to information has ceased to be a matter for individuals; it has become possible to greatly increase the volume of information exchange, which has led to great changes in science, culture and public life.

The third information revolution is associated with the discovery of electricity and the emergence (at the end of the 19th century) of new means of communication based on it - telephone, telegraph, radio. The possibilities for accumulating information for those times became truly limitless, and the speed of exchange was very high.

By the middle of the 20th century. fast technological processes appeared that humans did not have time to manage. The problem of managing technical objects could only be solved with the help of a universal
grease machines that collect, process data and issue decisions in the form of control commands. Nowadays these machines are called computers. Rapidly developing science and industry led to an increase in information resources in the geometric profession, which gave rise to problems of access to large volumes of information.

Our time is marked as the fourth information revolution. Millions of people have become users of information. Cheap computers appeared that were available to millions of users.
Computers have become multimedia, i.e. they process various types of information: sound, graphic, video, etc. This, in turn, gave impetus to the widespread use of computers in various fields of science, technology, production, and everyday life.
Communication means have become ubiquitous, and computers are connected to participate jointly in the information process. computer networks. The worldwide computer network Internet has appeared, the services of which are used by a significant part of the world's population, quickly receiving and exchanging data, i.e. a single global information space is being formed.

Currently, the circle of people involved in information processing has grown to unprecedented proportions, and the speed of exchange has become simply fantastic; computers are used in almost all areas of people's lives.

Before our eyes, an information society is emerging, where the emphasis of attention and importance is shifting from traditional types of resources (material, financial, energy, etc.) to an information resource, which, although it has always existed, was not considered either as an economic or as another category.

Information resources are individual documents and arrays of documents in libraries, archives, funds, data banks, information systems and other repositories. In other words, information resources are knowledge prepared by people for social use in society and recorded on material media. The information resources of a country, region, or organization are increasingly considered as strategic resources, similar in importance to reserves of raw materials, energy, minerals and other resources.

The development of global information resources has made it possible to:

Transform information service activities into a global human activity;

To form a global and domestic market for information services;

Increase the validity and efficiency of decisions made in companies, banks, exchanges, industry, trade, etc. through the timely use of necessary information.

Information has always played an extremely important role in human life.

It is a well-known saying that the one who owns the information owns the world. Another message is worth more than life. According to legend, September 13, 490 BC. The Greek warrior-messenger, who ran from Marathon to Athens, without stopping on the way, fell dead, but brought the news of the victory over the Persians.

Since ancient times, collecting and systematizing information about the world around us has helped people survive in difficult conditions - experience and skills in making hunting and labor tools, creating clothing and medicines have been passed on from generation to generation.

The information was constantly updated and supplemented - each studied phenomenon made it possible to move on to something new, more complex. Over time, large volumes of data about the surrounding world contributed to the development of scientific and technological progress and, as a result, the entire society as a whole - people were able to learn to manage various types of matter and energy.

Over time, the role of information in human life has become more and more significant. It was necessary to study and understand not only the laws of nature, but also the concepts and values ​​of human society - literature, art, architecture, etc. Now, in the first half of the 21st century, the role of information in a person’s life is decisive - the more skills and knowledge he has, the higher he is valued as a specialist and employee, the more respect he has in society.

Understanding the world around us, a person constantly deals with information. It helps a person to correctly assess current events, make an informed decision, and find the most successful option for his actions. Intuitively, we understand that information is what each of us adds to our own store of knowledge. Information is also the strongest means of influencing the individual and society as a whole. Whoever has the most information on any issue is always in a better position than others.

In recent decades, there has been persistent talk about the transition from an “industrial society” to an “information society.” There is a change in production methods, people's worldviews, and their way of life. Information technologies are radically changing the daily lives of millions of people.

Information has become one of the most important strategic and management resources, along with resources - human, financial, and material. Its production and consumption constitute the necessary basis for effective functioning and development various fields social life, and, above all, the economy. This means that not only sources of information in any part of our planet become available to every person, but also the new information generated by him becomes the property of all humanity. In modern conditions, the right to information and access to it are of vital value for all members of society.

The growing role of information in society has been the subject of scientific understanding. Theories have been put forward to explain its place and significance. The most popular theories are the post-industrial and information society.

The world is entering new era– information, in the age of electronic economic activity, online communities and organizations without borders. The advent of new times will radically change the economic and social aspects of society. Such changes most directly affect the place of man in the information world. A person changes in accordance with the vector of information and technical characteristics of society. However, this is not at all a passive acceptance of new conditions of production and consumption. A person acts as a subject of information reality that goes far beyond information and technical characteristics. The informatization of everyday life and the emergence of a new information field of human existence does not pass without leaving a mark on the human life world. In the electronic space, behavioral standards and value orientations of individuals change.

New conditions for world humanity are manifested in a special form in Russia. Modern Russia is not yet an information society. First of all, because some of the information is not available to a wide range of users or has been replaced by misinformation. However, the informatization of certain segments of social life, certain spheres of politics and economics will sooner or later create conditions for the emergence of a genuine social fabric of a new type, from which an information society can grow. Post-industrial trends can be quite organically combined with the characteristics of Russian civilization.

The information society is often called a mass society and a consumer society. This is due to such informatization processes as the development of the sphere of mass communications. Global and local computer networks, cellular communications, television and radio broadcasting systems, being components of the information structure of society, also provide communication between people. Mass communication is one of the important phenomena of modern society, which significantly affects the development of all technologies, information technologies in particular, both within each country and between countries. Often, informatization processes are given a negative connotation, which is inherent in a consumer society. Many representatives of social and scientific thought see in informatization processes that are destructive for the spiritual sphere of society and associate information civilization with the antipode of culture and spirituality.

In the field of theoretical understanding of ongoing processes, there is also still no consensus regarding the ways of development of the information society, the priority of one or another of its directions, the clarity and precision of formulations and concepts expressing what is happening in information sphere. Therefore, theoretical research into both conceptual and practical (real) prerequisites for understanding current information processes remains relevant

Media in society

The modern order in the world is often called the information age, since enormous opportunities for sharing knowledge are open to people. Information is, first of all, the possession of knowledge about a real fact. And this is where the main role of the media comes into play.

The media presents humanity with options that were hitherto unknown. Therefore, today we can calmly know what is happening in China, living in Moscow, although just “some” eight hundred years ago Marco Polo spent almost half the years of his life traveling to the Celestial Empire.

But information exchange is a thing of the past. Current media technologies are developing through the Internet. This means that as soon as some event occurs in one part of the world, we can not only find out the opinion of official authorities or newspapers, but also read comments from eyewitnesses, write them our opinion - and all this in real time.

Development of Russian media

The revolution in the Russian media began in the late eighties, when the usual slogans “the party, the will of the people, the opinion of the proletariat” were replaced by the slogans: “glasnost, freedom of speech.”

However, it is a controversial question what came first - the desire of people to speak out about painful issues, or the desire to randomly express thoughts. Therefore, initially Russian media developed on the idea of ​​truth. But what is truth? Is it true in the media?

Any more or less discerning person understands that society is built on a system of knowledge exchange. That is, at the top of society there are people who have real information. The bottom is the crowd, whose main role is the purposeful refusal of facts. However, does the crowd need facts? Controversial issue. The crowd wants a burger, a TV and an affordable discount at H&M clothing store.

The Soviet consumer was never spoiled by an overabundance of information. Communist society was passive and dreamy, watching the rise of a new star. In this sense, Western society was always absolutely excellent. And the role of the media here was to periodically add more water to the pot. The water began to evaporate, steam appeared, and, consequently, people could never completely relax, remembering their true purpose of existence - the American dream and the unbridled growth of capital. In the USSR, the opposite happened. People are accustomed to television as a kind of instrument of masochistic play, which pours more large quantity various kinds of “accidents”, and people began to believe in these accidents.

The fact is that journalism is a profession that implies an ethical and tactical basis. A journalist is not so much a person who has the right to express thoughts in a wide format and to the public, but rather a person - a social standard who is allowed to talk about many things. When the party school was destroyed, journalists began to focus on the Western way: to say what they want. And this was far from wrong.

Therefore, the main dilemma in Russia today is not only the issue of “freedom of speech”, but also the culture of a journalist, media worker, as a person. Society should show the journalist the way to think, but not limit him, but guide him based on fair interest.

Development of new technologies

It is not surprising that we talk so much about the media, because the media are not only a source of information, but also a colossal source of propaganda. Man in the 21st century differs little from man in the 12th century. Yes, we can go to Egypt and make sure that the inhabitants of other parts of the globe are not creatures with two heads or with dog paws, as the ancient Greeks believed, but we still receive the general part of information through wide sources. These are newspapers, television and the Internet.

An aspect of modern media is the breadth of their penetration into public life. Here we can give a simple example from the political struggle of the early 20th century. Newspapers had a tremendous influence on the electorate, but the main milestones were still laid at the meetings. Any party or public association, thought, etc., rested on a strong speaker.

Modern media have much more tools than ordinary newspaper pages. We are talking, first of all, about the potential of entertainment shows, although, in general, this is also yesterday. But don’t you notice how “Dom-2” is able to put values ​​in your head? And although it does not lay the foundation, because its creators are motivated by something else - the commercial process and the creation of an exciting tool for entertainment, such approaches are also possible. After all, in the show the viewer does not just read an article, not live material. He sees a real person in real conditions life, sympathizes with him.

Social networks and the Internet that are developing today have even greater potential. It is not surprising that almost all Western developments in this area are constantly experimenting not with quantity, but with format. An example of this is the war between several blogging platforms, Twitter, Facebook (Western analogue of Vkontakte), Livejournal. If the Livejournal service professes the format of long, public commandments, Twitter has gone towards short micro-messages - statuses. And although social networks are not media, or rather, this is not their primary function, the situation itself is very informative from the point of view of the example.

This contradicts the original idea of ​​journalism and the philosophy of information that a person is primarily interested in fact. Of course, the fact is important, because the message is built on it. But today main question- This is the presentation of information. Simplification makes it even more accessible, which can be used for socio-political or propaganda purposes.

Russian media and society

In modern Russia in the field of information there are a number of problems that can be identified. However, they are rather more related to the problems of society itself - the absence of a clear vector of development.

However, Russian media have great mobilization potential. This is manifested in the fact that in Russia the lion’s share of the largest sites is concentrated in the hands of the state. The disadvantage is that this journalism, for the most part, works using old technologies.

The communist past leaves a certain imprint on the development of the media. An example of this can be the attitude of people towards Channel One: society is clearly divided into those who watch it and those who clearly do not believe it. There is a very small segment of those who are truly captivated by television. This could be achieved through the development of new formats of communication with the audience and greater borrowing of Internet resources, because it is important to develop people’s trust in the media. Trust is important because it is what allows the main messages to be carried out quietly and smoothly: the fight against corruption, patriotism, the focus of the masses on success and other stimulating factors.

In the West, a fairly popular format is when famous public figures purposefully “condescend” to the crowd in order to get the maximum effect from presenting themselves in an unusual, entertaining way. Prince Harry goes to Iraq to visit the British garrison, as a private citizen, American politicians come to a comical and humiliating show. This suggests that Western media technologies are still superior to Russian ones. Because they understand the importance of accessible formats. However, extreme passion for this format can be more detrimental than beneficial. Therefore, it is important to master the golden mean, which has not yet been mastered in Russia, but, we hope, will soon be studied and accepted for practical work.

The role of information in society

Whoever owns the information owns the world. A well-known phrase that reflects the actual state of things in the world. And it’s true, because people who know more than others have an advantage over them. It has always been so, several thousand years ago, and it is so now. How important is the role of information in modern society and how can we learn to filter the flow that falls on each of us every day?

In order to fully answer the questions posed, let's look at what data sources are at our disposal. If several centuries ago knowledge and experience were passed on by word of mouth, through books, letters, messengers, then with the development of technology, the way of receiving and transmitting information became more diverse. Today a person has unlimited possibilities in studying almost any material. The main resource that limits our knowledge is the individual skill of absorbing new things, as well as the most important resource - time. If we try to determine the role of information for modern society, then the phrase sounded at the beginning of the article will be most appropriate here. The less you know, the less power you have, the worse your orientation in space, in what is happening, the worse your control of the world, your own in the first place.

It is not at all necessary to study absolutely every news of incidents every day, read smart books all day long, or try to learn foreign language, which you will never put into practice. It is important to find the “golden mean” so that your life is full and does not need regular repairs due to a lack of important data. Each of us chooses an area where he will try to realize himself. Your information acquisition process should be built on this basis.

And yet, modern society is developing at an incredible speed and keeping track of the volume of data that technological progress dictates is very difficult. To do this, it is important to be able to filter unnecessary knowledge. For example, exclude TV from your life with its empty programs, tons of annoying advertising and purchased TV channels. The Internet is now available to everyone, so it’s enough to choose worthy resources for yourself that will objectively tell you what events in the World have happened over the past 24 hours. Also on the World Wide Web there are many useful sites where you can quickly get the information you are interested in and can not only improve your basic skill, but also gradually learn how to filter garbage. And, believe me, there is a lot of it.

The efficiency of obtaining information, the ability not only to absorb it, but also to use it in practice, in everyday life, is extremely important for a modern person, for a successful and prosperous society as a whole. Unfortunately, the majority continue to fall victim to information noise, which is becoming more powerful every year. It is intensity that is the second most important determining factor. Speed ​​of obtaining information, speed and ability to process and use it. To do this, it is not enough just to read books or newspapers, you need to keep up with the times, join modern technologies, so as not to miss something important one day. For example, it wouldn’t hurt anyone to regularly study economic news in order to save their business from bankruptcy in time or to protect their family from starvation in the event of a system collapse.

The choice of information sources is another point worth paying attention to. People often trust everything they write on the Internet or talk about on TV, forgetting that the mechanisms of manipulation will never stop working for the benefit of those in power. Take the time to choose reliable sources that will give you food for thought. Books, newspapers, magazines, movies, TV channels, Internet sites - everything requires filtering and careful selection.

To summarize, the role of information is to teach a person to adapt to a rapidly changing world in order to be ready for anything tomorrow. In modern society it is a formative link, the influence of which almost no one can avoid. Choose correct sources, comfortable intensity, using your knowledge wisely - this is the formula for success for a modern person who, by default, sets himself the main task - survival.

Information in the life of society

The modern understanding of information culture lies in the ability and need of a person to work with information using new information technologies. It involves much more than a simple set of skills in the technical processing of information using computers and telecommunications. A cultured (in the broad sense) person must be able to evaluate the information received qualitatively, understand its usefulness, reliability, etc. An essential element of information culture is mastery of collective decision-making techniques. The ability to interact in the information field with other people is an important sign of a person in the information society.

The discussed problem of access to information and freedom of its dissemination lies more in the political and economic plane than in the technical one, since modern information technologies have technically opened up limitless scope for information exchanges. Freedom of access to information and freedom of its dissemination - required condition democratic development, promoting economic growth, fair competition in the market. Only relying on complete and reliable information can one make correct and informed decisions in politics, economics, science, and practical activities. Freedom of dissemination of information of a cultural and educational nature is of great importance. It contributes to the growth of the cultural and educational level of society.

At the same time, the problem of freedom of access to information also has the opposite side. Not all information of state, corporate or personal importance should be freely disseminated. Every person has the right to personal secrets; just as a state or corporation may have secrets vital to its existence. There should be no freedom to disseminate information that promotes violence and other phenomena unacceptable to society and the individual. Finding a compromise between freedom of access to information and inevitable restrictions is not an easy task.

The modern understanding of information culture lies in the ability and need of a person to work with information using new information technologies.

Purposeful efforts of society and the state to develop the information culture of the population are mandatory when moving towards an information society.

One of the important objectives of the computer science course is the development of elements of the information culture of students. This task is complex and cannot be solved by schools alone. The development of elements of information culture should begin in childhood, in the family and then pass through the entire conscious life of a person, through the entire system of education and upbringing.

Information culture includes much more than a simple set of technical skills for processing information using computers and telecommunications. Information culture must become part of universal human culture. A cultured (in the broad sense) person must be able to evaluate the information received qualitatively, understand its usefulness, reliability, etc.

An essential element of information culture is mastery of collective decision-making techniques. The ability to interact in the information field with other people is an important sign of a person in the information society.

As we move towards the information society, great changes are taking place in the field of education. One of the fundamental problems facing modern education is to make it more accessible to every person. This accessibility has economic, social and technological aspects.

Due to its dynamism, the information society will require continuous learning from its members over decades. This will allow a person to keep up with the times, be able to change professions, and take a worthy place in the social structure of society. Economically developed countries have already embarked on the path of creating a system of lifelong education, including preschool and school education, professional education, system professional retraining and advanced training, additional education, etc. The level of quantitative and qualitative development of the educational system allows us to judge the degree of progress of the country along the path to the information society.

The formation of the information society significantly affects people's daily lives. Based on the examples already available, it can be foreseen that the changes will be profound. Thus, the mass introduction of television in the 60-70s of the 20th century significantly changed people’s lives, and not only for the better. On the one hand, millions of people have the opportunity to access the treasures of national and world culture, on the other hand, face-to-face communication has decreased, there are more stereotypes implanted by television, and the circle of reading has narrowed.

Let's consider the individual components of the way of life, analyzing what has already happened and what is emerging in our time:

1) Work. According to a sociological study conducted in the United States, up to 10% of workers can already do their work without leaving home, and 1/3 of all newly registered companies are based on the widespread use of self-employment, which does not involve regularly coming to the office.
2) Study. In a number of countries, the number of children who do not attend school and are taught at home with the help of computer programs and telecommunications is increasing. If this trend continues, the school will face the most serious danger since its inception as a mass public institution. If we consider that school not only teaches, but also instills in children the skills of socialization and social behavior, then such development causes a certain concern.
3) Leisure activities are changing before our eyes. Computer games, which already occupy a significant amount of time for some people, are being transformed into network games involving several remote partners. The time spent “walking” on the Internet without a specific goal, as well as on the so-called “chat”, with not very meaningful exchange of messages, is growing. At the same time, educational trips to educational sites, virtual museums, etc. are also implemented. As mentioned above, information culture is only a part of universal human culture, and the form of leisure is determined primarily by the general culture specific person.
4) The recent achievement of Internet technologies - shopping for real goods in a virtual online store - is already beginning to noticeably affect the trading system.
5) Human housing tends to become increasingly “informatized.” Houses are already being put into operation, in which, instead of a wiring harness (electrical wiring, telephone, television, security and fire alarms, etc.), only one power cable and one information cable are included. The last one takes over everything information links, including the provision of many cable television channels, Internet access, etc. Special the electronic unit in such an apartment it will control all devices, including household appliances and life support systems, and help the inhabitant of the apartment live as comfortably as possible. Such a house is called “smart”.
6) Since for many people the car has become an extension of their living environment, the emergence of “smart cars” is also important. Such a car, in addition to the already mandatory microprocessor devices servicing its technical part, is constantly connected with the city information services, suggesting the most optimal route at the moment (taking into account the occupancy of the routes). In addition, a “smart” car is connected to its owner’s “smart house” and this house can be controlled from it.

While admiring the opportunities that the information society brings, we should not forget about the contradictions that it potentially contains and which, as we move towards it, already appear.

It should be understood that the concept of “information society” does not lie in the same range of concepts that are associated with the concepts of “capitalism”, “socialism”, etc., i.e. does not directly indicate the nature of property relations and the economic structure. Likewise, it should not be perceived as just another utopia promising universal happiness.

Let us list some dangers and problems on the way to the information society:

1) the real possibility of destruction of the private life of people and organizations through information technology;
2) the danger of increasing influence on society by the media and those who control these media;
3) the problem of selecting quality and reliable information with a large volume;
4) the problem of adaptation of many people to the environment of the information society, to the need to constantly improve their professional level;
5) a collision with virtual reality, in which illusion and reality are difficult to distinguish, creates little-studied but clearly unfavorable psychological problems for some people, especially young people;
6) the transition to an information society does not promise any changes in social benefits and preserves the social stratification of people; moreover, to existing species information inequality can be added to inequality, thereby increasing social tension;
7) the reduction in the number of jobs in the economies of developed countries, which is not fully compensated by the creation of new jobs in the information sector, leads to a dangerous social illness - mass unemployment.

Social information in society

Social information includes any information circulating in society that ensures that it performs its functions as a social system. Accordingly, if these functions are provided by any of the above types of information, it can also be considered as social.

At the same time, for society it is possible to identify some information that is of greatest importance to its members. Such information is called socially significant.

Socially significant information is information that includes, among other things, the following information:

On the state of the economic sphere;
- about events of public life within the country and abroad that are of interest to a significant number of people;
- about the activities of political parties and movements, leaders of society and the state;
- about the labor and capital market, etc.

IN general view socio-psychological information is a socially significant topic refracted in the subjective space of consciousness, which has become a socio-psychological phenomenon that combines semantics, aesthetics and energy. Socio-psychological information has its own information space, formed from specific information fields, correlating with other spaces and fields (social and psychological).

Information exchange in social systems is based on interaction, i.e. on the process of mutual (joint) influence - direct or indirect - of objects (subjects) on each other, giving rise to their mutual conditionality and connection.

From a philosophical point of view, interaction is a universal form of development of the objective world, which determines the existence and structural organization of any material system. Interaction as a material process is accompanied by the transfer of matter, motion and information. It is relative, carried out at a certain speed and in a certain space-time. Psychological science considers interaction as a process of people influencing each other, giving rise to their mutual connections, relationships, communication, joint experiences and joint activities.

Information exchange generally refers to the transfer and receipt of information products, as well as the provision of information services.

In the organizational and legal aspect, information exchange in a social system represents the transfer of information by its owner (the owner of the information resources on which this information is based) to the user.

The owner of information is a subject who fully exercises the powers of ownership, use, and disposal of information in accordance with legislative acts.

The owner of information resources, information systems, technologies and means of supporting them is a subject who fully exercises the powers of ownership, use, and disposal specified objects.

Information user is a subject who turns to an information system, an intermediary, to obtain the information he needs and uses it. User (consumer) of information, means of international information exchange - a subject who turns to the owner or possessor to obtain the information products he needs or the opportunity to use means of international information exchange and uses them. A user who has the right to access the information processing or transmission system is called a subscriber.

In the process of information exchange, access to information is carried out, which is a special type of interaction between a subject and an object, as a result of which a flow of information is created from one to another. Access to information includes familiarization with information, its processing, in particular, copying, modification or destruction of information. Access to information presupposes that the subject has the opportunity to familiarize himself with the information, including using technical means. Giving a subject certain rights to access information exchange is called authorization.

Receiving information (mining information) in the process of information exchange are actions associated with the collection, processing and analysis of facts related to the structure, properties and interaction of objects and phenomena extracted from incoming signals and signs.

Information in civil society

When discussing the scope of ICT, practice and science most often draw attention to ensuring human rights in the information society and the interaction of public authorities with citizens on this matter. Much attention is also paid to the issues of incorporating the potential of ICT into the activities of state authorities and local self-government. But does this approach cover the entire scope of information? The wider space of information life is connected with the entire huge conglomerate of structures of society. Hence the problem: how does the potential of ICT work for the whole society?

There are studies that examine the problem in connection with the specific connection of the term “society”, “civil society” to a political, legal, social problem. For example, "Public Law, Democracy and Civil Society".

There are several approaches to this problem:

1) consideration of civil society is linked to the citizenship of individuals, subjects of a particular state, or its inclusion in the legal system of a particular state;
2) the part of people who are engaged in civil transactions is highlighted. The above example shows the desire to link public legal relations with the characteristics of civil society. And this is a more common technique, since it characterizes a person’s interest in the system of power and the content of the rights that a person has and is legitimately endowed with. For many centuries, citizenship and human belonging to public life have been realized through politics and power structures.

To date, the institutions of the information society, permeating almost all social relations, carry out the tasks of integrating information and disseminating knowledge, forming a society as an information one. Here the concentration of general interest in new ways of communication is clearly visible. Information, technology - everything that today is united by the concept of “information and communication technologies” (ICT) works to unite not only the idea, but also the practice of new forms of communication between people and their innovations.

Under these conditions, interest in civil society is intensifying. Under what circumstances does society manifest itself as civil? Some representatives of science believe that the concept of “civil society” is an outdated category and has lost its meaning today. And this is far from accidental. The processes of globalization, informatization, liberalization of modern life sharply raise the question of the fate of the state, democracy, power and the connection of these concepts with human rights, with its inclusion in public interests and processes. It is in this connection that the question arises about the interpenetration of the nature of information and civil society.

Let us recall that the principles of development of the information society are aimed at solving the problem of “information for all”. “Everyone” is society, including even persons who, due to certain circumstances, are considered offenders, criminals. The life of society is manifested in different forms and does not contradict the understanding of it as a “civil society”. Its maturity is determined by the level of the state of interaction of all its components to ensure the assimilation of knowledge and experience, to organize one’s life so that there are as few conflicts and contradictions as possible, and there are as many ways to ensure the well-being, justice and dignity of each and everyone together; develop forms of its self-organization while maintaining order based on the law. Hence, special attention is paid to institutions (structures) and institutions of civil society in order to identify its potential for synergy and ensure self-organization of society as a whole.

Dissemination of information in society

Dissemination of information in a straightforward manner is an understandable and ordinary action, in PR for a targeted influence on changing a person’s opinion or behavior, communication and dissemination of information in society are the main tools for achieving one’s goals.

Sociologists and researchers in the field of Public Relations have identified some patterns that are present in the targeted dissemination of information and are used in PR activities.

1. Opinion leaders;
2. Diffusion theory;
3. Change of opinion.

The most popular models of information dissemination:

1. Opinion leaders;
2. Diffusion theory;
3. Change of opinion.

The primary function of the media is to disseminate information. In performing this function, people who are far from the production of cultural values ​​are involved. “The dissemination of mass information is carried out by professional practitioners who, as a rule, with only rare exceptions, themselves create new ideas, formulas or new designs, mainly carry out social function, firmly connected with the needs of the current moment, their task is, first of all, to create a “circulatory system in the social body,” i.e. Spread of information. The goals of their activities are quite clearly defined: historically they are associated with the democratic thesis that the people have the right to knowledge.”

The media provide specific spiritual communication between people, in which the exchange of products of activity acts as an exchange of information between people. The specificity of this communication is characterized by the mass and regularity of information dissemination and the stereotypical nature of its content.

As for the form of information dissemination, it is very diverse - text, graphic, audiovisual, and combinations thereof. The media provide a continuous flow of individual elements of culture, due to which the individual appears not as the result of a purposeful process of assimilation of scientific knowledge, moral norms and other cultural values ​​existing in society, but as a result of the development of individual, often unrelated, elements of culture. Because of this, as A. Mohl puts it, the cultural potential of an individual becomes a “mosaic culture.”

Information in company management

In the system of civil society, consisting of many elements interacting with each other (individuals, their organizations, communities), changing and complementing each other, the perception, processing and transmission of information are the very basis that shapes their behavior in the near and long term. In other words, the formation of a behavioral program and the dynamics of the development of the entire system of civil society depend on what information an individual or a community of individuals receives and how this information is analyzed (conclusions are drawn). Quite simply, then correctly selected information is a specific management model applicable to an individual (or social group) taking into account specific conditions and circumstances.

Law as a component of information is also, in the broadest sense, a management model in which, with the help of certain information (scientific and legal, current legislation, comments on legislation, speeches of politicians, judicial practice, etc.), the behavioral program of society, civil society in depending on the circumstances. First, relations in society must arise and form, and then the phase of their regulation by law begins. Not only their development and directions of interaction, but also the development and change of the entire systems as a whole. In the issue of information entering the circulation of civil society, it is important to determine the role of the state in regulating (filtering) this information.

It is known that information is a dual-use tool. The balanced and harmonious development of the state and society depends on whose hands it is in and how skillfully it is used. The use of information is global problem modern management. Without information, management cannot be carried out. A special type of information is social, which is characterized by meaning, value and other properties.

Before moving on to the question of civil society and the role of information in its development, a few words should be said about information theory. N. Wiener gave the following definition: “Information is information, not matter and not energy.” The definition is not indisputable, but it was the starting point for many studies in this area. In the probabilistic-statistical theory, information is characterized as the antipode of uncertainty, as surmountable uncertainty (the well-known theory of K. Shannon). Based on this, a definition of the amount of information is given as the degree of reduced (removed) uncertainty (probability) as a result of the transmission of messages, in other words, as A.D. writes. Ursul, “when this uncertainty is inherent either in our knowledge of an object, or in this object itself.” A characteristic feature of K. Shannon’s theory is that probability is taken as the initial, primary concept, and on this basis the concept of the amount of information is built. However, the very fact of the existence of information indicates that it (its quantity) exists regardless of the theory of probability, and this was proven by Academician A.N. Kolmogorov, who discovered a new way to measure the amount of information without the help of probability - algorithmic. The importance of this discovery lies in the fact that the scientist proposed to take the very concept of “information” as a basis and then, on this basis, build the entire theory of probability and derive the concept of probability. In science, information was presented as uncertainty removed, destroyed, i.e. difference, diversity. Variety becomes the basis of information. Subsequently, the inextricable connection between reflection and information was proven; a formula has appeared that measures the amount of information in one object relative to another.

The main component of any social system is always man as a social being. As V.G. correctly wrote. Afanasyev, “man is the last, in a certain sense of the word, the elementary bearer of social system quality. At the same time, being a component of any social system, the embodiment of its essence, a person is only a part of the social system. Only by being included in a certain social system does an individual acquire his social essence."

The development of information science fully allows us to take into account the “Nasbitt paradox”, according to which the higher the level of globalization of the economy (and not only the economy. - Author's note), the stronger its smallest participants. Indeed, based on this scientific theory, in relation to the problem considered in the article, the following can be done: important conclusion: if a person is a component (element) of a social system, then his presence in it presupposes that a person performs certain functions (object and (or) subject) in this system, which, firstly, structurally connect him with the system, and secondly, change the system itself. What functions and actions a person should (can) perform as part of the system depends on the information that he receives and processes. Thus, both a person individually and the system itself as a whole develop, acquiring new qualities, thanks to the information perceived and transmitted to each other. The more intense the development of a particular person in his interaction (transfer of information) with other people (elements of the system), the faster the system itself improves.

At least three scenarios for the development of the situation arise here:

1) total state control over the flow of information: in fact, there is no need to talk about civil society, since the non-state sphere of citizens’ lives is being nationalized. The most striking recent historical example of how the masses can be controlled with the help of information (the concept of “society”, which has a complex self-organized dynamic structure, is not applicable here), is the USSR, in which the rudiments of a pre-civil society existed not thanks to, but in spite of the existing system (for example, “samizdat”, human rights organizations, etc.), in general, almost all spheres of life of a Soviet person were controlled by the state. It is no secret that Soviet society was based on the Soviet rigid ideology; generations of people were raised for whom the concept of “Soviet man” was a special sign of difference from the rest of the world; this very concept and the affiliation with the Soviet people brought up from childhood created a certain psychological “code”, with the help of which the state exercised control at the level of developing behavioral programs of groups of people. Party ideology directed scientific research, especially the humanities (the most susceptible, in contrast to the technical sciences), in the right, politically oriented direction;
2) indifferent state: the state not only withdraws from control over civil society, but also does not help its institutions to form and grow (there is no state support, a favorable regime of legislation, taxation, etc.). This is the desire for the ideal of a legal democratic state: the freer and more intensively a person, individuals, and people of a particular state develop, the faster its development will (in some directions) turn into self-development and the formation of civil society institutions. Self-organization of citizens and the presence of areas of so-called civic activity not controlled by the state (let us repeat that in this case the state makes certain volitional efforts to self-limit its own power in the name of the full development of the entire system) are important symptom successful development of the entire system, comparable to the presence of immunity in the body. In other words, the more opportunities for freedom of information exchange the state provides as a managing subject, which is part of the system (state - society), to the controlled object (civil society) in the sphere of self-identification and self-organization, the less the risk of “disease” of the entire system as a single organism, parts of which can influence each other. As S.M. correctly noted. Petrov, it is the state in this case that can be both a lever and a brake on the entire process. And the tool for this process is, of course, information;
3) a mixed option, in which the state can “throw” the information it needs into civil society, but deliberately does not control everything, providing the social system of civil society with opportunities for self-development using its own information and its processing. Today in Russia there is also a state propaganda machine operating, however, firstly, not on the same scale, and secondly, a new one has not yet been built to replace the destroyed Soviet ideology. This is an important point, since it is the state ideology that is the most convenient and functional tool for constructing and “communicating” the necessary information to society in the necessary forms. Information flows form and direct our consciousness, society is filled with information that it is no longer able to quickly systematize and process. And social information is always associated with psychological factors of perception. According to E.K. Voishvillo, the amount of information contained in a judgment in relation to a certain problem is determined by how much the proof or assumption of the truth of this judgment reduces the entropy and disorganization of the system.

The image of society, which received its theoretical expression in the concept of a social system, according to N. Elias, upon closer examination turns out to be the ideal image of the nation. As G. Klaus writes, “we want not only to understand social systems, but also to own them. To own, however, does not mean to know all the causal connections of the system. Under certain circumstances, it is enough to already know the patterns of its behavior.” Let's take this idea into account.

V.A. Engelhardt believed that we can talk about three points that characterize the relationship between the whole and the part. Firstly, this is the emergence of an interacting system of connections between parts of the whole; secondly, the loss of some properties of a part when it becomes part of the whole; thirdly, the emergence of new properties in the emerging integrity, conditioned both by the properties of the main parts and the emergence of new systems of connections between the parts. To this we must add the orderliness of the parts, the conditionality of their spatial and functional relationships. As integrity increases, the relative independence of the social organism from the environment also increases, which is associated with the emergence of mechanisms that make it possible to restore dysfunction caused by changes in the environment and to maintain certain parameters inherent in the social organism within normal limits. People are in a network of interdependencies that firmly (through the information transmitted and received) bind them to each other. This information network can be designated as figuration - a certain form of communication between mutually oriented and interdependent people. Since people - first by nature, and then through training, education, socialization, socially awakened needs - depend on each other, they always appear in the plural or, so to speak, exist as “pluralities”. They always appear in one or another figuration (community).

In ancient times, the term "cybernetics" (from ancient Greek - "the art of control") was used by Plato in his writings in one case as the art of controlling a ship or chariot, and in another - in the context of the "study of self-government" in the "Laws" to mean people management. In its modern meaning, the word “cybernetics” was first used in 1834 by the French physicist and systematizer of sciences Andre Marie Ampère in his work “Essay on the Philosophy of Sciences, or Analytical Statement of the Natural Classification of All Human Knowledge” to designate a new science of managing human society. In 1948, N. Wiener defined cybernetics as the science of control and communication in living things and machines.

What exactly is civil society? This is “a community of independent subjects (citizens) within the state, developing moral and material values ​​in the interests of the community and the state itself... along with the aggravation of relations between society and the state, both sides are taking steps towards each other.” This is by no means something that formally goes beyond the boundaries of government structures. If, say, there is nationalization of public institutions, then the boundary separating society and the state becomes amorphous and, to one degree or another, shifts into the sphere of state power (according to Hegel: power as an “inevitable necessity” for the existence of civil society), forming pseudo-social institutions in it . An example of such institutions is the CPSU and the Soviet nomenklatura, where in reality the interests were formed, on the basis of which the state apparatus and the state itself were built and functioned.

This kind of political conglomerate appears whenever, due to the willful actions of the authorities (by “throwing” certain information into society), carried out against the backdrop of the weakness of democratic institutions, the natural boundaries of civil society are shifted, and the development of the institutions themselves is inhibited. In modern Russia, this can be observed in the example of the current party in power, which is based on the same nomenklatura, but now of a new type.

In our opinion, building a state “from above” in conditions of its general underdevelopment and in the presence of mass stereotypes of Soviet totalitarianism in the public consciousness of civil society has a number of advantages, at least from the standpoint of the method of system analysis. Firstly, it is easier for the state (and not only it) to manage society as a subsystem when the main elements of the system (state - society) are ordered and correlated with each other, when their internal connections and subordination are clear. It is more difficult (and almost impossible) to manage chaos, a disorder in which the managed elements are scattered and do not have clear connections with each other. Secondly, in modern Russia, where more than 200 peoples and ethnic groups live, differing in language, material and spiritual culture, and religious affiliation, the need for “managed freedom” is obvious and quite logical.

The state is not only a regulator and reformer in this area, but the very fact of state intervention in the processes of formation of civil society institutions is a process that is largely natural and inevitable, taking into account the historical traditions of our country.

State power by its nature strives for self-preservation and control over civil society, while the specificity of Russia is the possibility of creating and beginning the development of society only by the forces of the state. Thus, the state, contrary to its nature, must fully develop an uncontrolled sphere, which, under certain circumstances and conditions of development (and self-development), can escape the control of the state. In other words, in Russia, in the current socio-economic conditions, the development of civil society, we believe, is possible only “from above”, but not “from below”. Society itself is not ready to organize itself due to, among other things, the Soviet past, which atomized the social environment and did not give society certain degrees freedom to the level of self-organization and independent development in all areas not related to the state. Previously, the totalitarian statehood of Russia perceived any basis for self-organization and the resulting independence as a threat to state security and sought to control absolutely all spheres of society, breaking it into separate parts. Atomization sooner or later leads to entropy, accelerating the destruction of the system as a whole.

As B.S. correctly noted. Ebzeev, “state recognition of human rights is a form of their transformation into civil rights, which are only transformed human rights.” The fundamental rights and freedoms of a citizen are the legal form of human rights included in a certain social system. It is impossible in principle to establish a clear distinction between a member of civil society and a citizen of the state. Almost every citizen of the state is at the same time a member of the family, part of civil society and in one way or another participates in the political life of society and encounters the state in the person of public authorities.

Now we can admit the following: the state is a necessary factor in the creation and the very fact of the existence of civil society. If there is no force and state will (coercion) in certain issues of public life, everything will slide into unrest and chaos. Not least of all, this concerns civil society, a self-regulatory system that apparently needs constant control by the state. All this only demonstrates the objective relationship between the state and civil society (in which the state undoubtedly dominates) in relation to special examples. Truly, civil society and the state represent the unity and struggle of opposites. As noted by G.V.F. Hegel, “in civil society everyone is a goal for himself, everything else is nothing for him” or: “Civil society is an arena for the struggle of private individual interests, the war of all against all.” And it is precisely this war, which itself is a consequence of social unity and the restrictions arising from it, that gives rise to the need for a powerful integrating principle, which is the state. Civil society is considered by Hegel as the sphere of the concept of the state and precisely as the sphere of its finitude. As K. Marx pointed out (in his early works), the state acts for civil society as its “external necessity.” The life of civil society is unthinkable without the state, which indirectly or directly sets the framework for the formation and development of social life. This is precisely what sets the preconditions not for duality, but for the dual unity of the individual - as a member of civil society and as a citizen of the state.

The state, while sanctioning the development of the sprouts of civil society in Russia (the most striking examples are the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, regional public chambers, state support for some public associations), nevertheless, according to the law of dialectics, must constantly monitor this development (determine the degree of freedom of the controlled object). The problem of the development and interaction of civil society institutions among themselves and with the state, in our opinion, is akin to the problem of the dialectical unity of the organism and the environment. Entering into interdisciplinary research on such a complex problem is simply necessary.

The slow development of civil society institutions in Russia is caused historically, including by the lack of social responsibility among the country's population and the crisis of self-identification of individuals, individual social groups and society as a whole. Here one can find another paradox: even if the state sanctions “from above” the development of civil liberties and provides all legal opportunities for self-organization of citizens locally, but at the same time the people are not ready to accept information coming from the state, are not ready for self-organization and self-development, and do not have the proper level education and culture, any efforts on the part of the state will soon come to naught. If we analyze, for example, changes in Russian legislation on education and science over the past 15 years, we can conclude that government policy in this area is not aimed at improving the education of citizens - potential members of civil society. If you look at what is happening now with culture, and at the very limited (in fact) access to cultural values, then there is also no need to talk about the high culture of the average citizen. This also gives rise to such an important concept as legal consciousness. Instead, the majority of the Russian population has only legal nihilism, ignorance of the laws and distrust of the authorities. Understanding social responsibility (of every citizen, business, etc.) is the result of the achieved high level of awareness by everyone of their role in the country and society. This is still a long way off for modern Russian citizens. Responsibility as a social phenomenon determines the limits of permissible activities of individuals, groups, organizations in society, and therefore is an indicator of the possibility of self-regulation by society of its relations, their sociocultural and economic transformation (without involving the state in this process or with minimal involvement of the latter).

The ideal, at least in the near future, is unattainable for Russia: when the participation of the state in the formation of Russian civil society should be very balanced and this participation itself should be controlled (with openness of state policy, a civilized dialogue between the authorities and society) by public institutions, so as not to allow information manipulation of the process of formation of civil society in the interests of the authorities themselves. And for this, the government (not only in Russia, but in any state) must realize the importance and necessity of self-restraint, and go largely against its nature. This is especially true for totalitarian traditions government controlled in Russia. But in any complex system there are failures and deviations (fluctuations) from the general laws of development that could not be predicted and prevented.

Information in post-industrial society

Post-industrial (information) society is a theory, in sociology and futurology, the designation of the stage of social development following industrial society, in which the leading sector of the economy is the creation, distribution, storage and processing of information (knowledge and technology).

Theory post-industrial society arose in con. 1960-70s (A. Tofler, D. Bell, G. Kahn, 3. Brzezinski, A. Touraine, etc.). It is a type of information theory of the historical process. Proponents of the theory recognize the existence of social progress and believe that societies within different civilizations go through the same stages of development.

In the 1980s was developed in the theory of the information society (E. Masud, J. Nesbitt, etc.), which reflects the real growth in the importance in the life of society of the production, distribution and consumption of information. For most scientists, the concepts of “post-industrial” and “information” society are identical (in the 21st century they prefer to use the second term).

According to other researchers, these are different stages in the evolution of society. Post-industrial society originated in the United States, Western Europe and Japan in the 1970s. in the process of scientific and technological revolution. In the 1990s. in connection with the information revolution, it is being replaced by the information society.

They differ from each other in the degree of involvement of ordinary people in the process of information exchange (communications), the level of development and dissemination of the latest means of communication and information processing (primarily personal computers, computer networks and telecommunications).

In a post-industrial (information) society, information (technology) constitutes the most important and expensive part of the production cycle and determines the quality and cost of the goods (services) produced. Demand for it is also formed by manipulations with information (advertising, marketing).

High tech are widely used in science, production, government, education, everyday life, work and leisure of people. Compared to industry, service sector enterprises (primarily related to the development of technologies, communications and information networks) are developing at a faster pace.

Classes give way to other social divisions. The first places in terms of the number of employed persons are occupied by employees, administrators, and service personnel of enterprises in the information services sector.

Social mobility is high: a person’s status and quality of life largely depend on his mental abilities, qualifications, and level of knowledge of information. A person in the era of the information society is forced to continuously improve his own skills and level of education in order to keep up with the continuous development of technology.

Knowledge is the most important resource person and corporation. The transformation of cultural values ​​is happening rapidly, the role of tradition is decreasing, and the so-called subcultures (related to age, occupation, social circle of a person).

People in a post-industrial society have wide access to information. The development of the latest means of communication and computer networks brings the creator and consumer of knowledge closer together. A global information space is emerging in which physical distances, social and ethnic differences cease to play a significant role.

Communication (communication) is an important factor in the development of post-industrial society. The problem of intellectual property (ownership of information) becomes relevant.

Unlike other types of property, it is intangible, inexhaustible (it can be used by any number of persons) and is the fruit of the creative activity of a person (collective). Intellectual property is protected by copyright.

Proponents of the theory of post-industrial (information) society argue that this society can only exist within the framework of representative democracy and that over time, power will fall into the hands of the intellectual elite of society (meritocracy). Authoritarianism is incompatible with such a society, because it is based on concealing or distorting a significant part of information.

Storage of information in society

Information is stored using books, and recently more and more through electronic media.

Information processes are characteristic not only of wildlife, humans and society, but also of technology. Man has developed technical devices, in particular computers, that are specifically designed for automatic information processing. The creation of the global computer network Internet has made it possible to provide every person with the potential for quick access to the entire amount of information accumulated by humanity throughout its history.

The information approach to the study of the world is implemented within the framework of computer science, a comprehensive science of information and information processes.

The accumulation of experience and knowledge by mankind in the development of nature has been mixed with the development of information. It was this process that led to the formation of the infosphere. Such a concept as information processing appeared quite recently, but people began to process information back in ancient times.

At first, information was passed down orally from generation to generation. This was information about professional skills, for example, about hunting techniques, processing hunting trophies, farming methods, etc. But then the information began to be recorded in the form of graphic images of the surrounding world. The first cave paintings depicting animals, plants and people appeared approximately 20-30 thousand years ago.

Started search over modern methods recording information led to the emergence of writing. What kind of things did people write on? In India - on palm leaves, in Babylon - on clay tiles, in Rus' they used birch bark. As we see, writing is a new step for humanity in the field of storing and transmitting information. However, the first revolutionary phenomenon in this area was the invention of the printing press, thanks to which a book appeared and, thus, the mass replication of professional knowledge recorded on a material medium became possible. Today, streams of books, merging with streams of technical documentation and multi-volume reference literature, form oceans of information. This information must be stored and transmitted to the consumer, which requires a mobile and capacious medium. But a book is an inconvenient, complex, expensive, and most importantly “slow” information carrier. All the versatility of the content is revealed to a person when flipping through, reading and looking at the book. It cannot directly influence the production process. First, a person needs to find the book he needs, master the knowledge accumulated in it, which can later give impetus to the further development of production. The book, as a carrier of information, today already lags behind the rapid progress of humanity along the path of exploration of nature.

There was another type of information activity. Individual states, seeking to expand their territories, pursued an aggressive policy towards their neighbors. Preparation and conduct of combat operations required information about the enemy’s military potential. It was obtained, for example, through scouts. Then the issue of protecting information from leakage into unauthorized hands arose. Encoding methods began to develop, and methods for quickly and securely sending information were developed. As the years passed, the volume of information exchanged by society grew.

Publishing houses and printing houses were created to collect, process and disseminate information - the information industry was born. Newspapers, magazines and other publications, published in large circulations, often, in addition to useful information, bombarded a person with a huge amount of unnecessary, useless information. To denote such unnecessary information, a special term was invented - information noise. In addition to print, other media appeared - radio and television. And society is accustomed to the fact that when they talk about information, we are talking about information received through radio, newspapers, etc.

A revolutionary invention of the 20th century was the electronic computer (computer). It is both a carrier of information and a means of delivering it to the consumer. Together with communication lines, such as wired, radio, space and optical, a computer makes available any part of the gigantic ocean of information, which, without direct influence on a person, can influence the operation of production equipment, for example, computer-controlled machines.

The impact of information on society

Currently, there is no sufficiently substantiated and detailed general classification of the influence of information on a person. This is due to the novelty and complexity of this problem, as well as to the fact that the classification procedure itself and the result depend on the tasks that need to be solved, and in connection with this, on the selected bases and criteria that are used in the classification.

First of all, it is necessary to highlight the following main sources of influence of information on a person, which can be divided in relation to the individual into two groups: external and internal.

Sources of influence of information on a person

The common source of external influence of information is that part of the information environment of society, which, for various reasons, does not adequately reflect the world around a person. Those. information that misleads people into a world of illusions and does not allow them to adequately perceive the environment and themselves.

The information environment takes on the character of a second, subjective reality for a person. That part of it that contains information that inadequately reflects the world around us, and those of its characteristics and processes that complicate or interfere with the adequacy of a person’s perception and understanding of the world around him and himself.

One of them is the objective complexity of the world itself and the process of knowing it, the mistakes and misconceptions of people who know it.

Another group of sources of influence can include the actions of those people who, pursuing their own goals, achieve this using various ways informational and psychological influence on others without taking into account their interests, and often simply misleading, acting contrary to their interests and causing damage to them. This is the activity of various individuals - from political leaders, government and public figures, representatives of mass media, literature and art, to our everyday partners in interpersonal interaction. These individuals include those who, by exerting an informational and psychological influence on others, skillfully, mixing lies with truth, increase the degree of inadequacy of the information environment of society and thereby expand the illusory subjective reality.

True, this does not make it any easier for those who have already fallen into the web of his manipulations, who are experiencing their destructive and derogatory influence.

The influence of information on a person - relationships of manipulation

The very socio-political and economic situation of fundamental social changes and the transition to market relations contributes to this and strengthens this trend.

The seller seeks to sell the product to the buyer, and their interests do not always coincide, if not to say that they diverge and have only one common point of contact - the fact of selling a specific product. At the same time, the seller actively resorts to various techniques to hide the shortcomings and emphasize the real, and most often imaginary, advantages of the advertised product.

Often it hides the information the client needs, and changes some of it, thereby making it difficult to obtain adequate information about the product.

The employer also resorts to psychological manipulation in order, for example, to pay the employee cheaper, etc.

Negotiators, using various methods of manipulating information, implement reflexive management technology in order to achieve their goals and achieve more favorable conditions for their side, usually at the expense of infringing on the interests of the other side. Moreover, this happens both in situations affecting the interests of an individual or several individuals, as well as interstate relations, in which, at the cost of manipulation, the interests of entire nations and even, as history shows, their very existence.

Access to the large-scale use of new information technologies and control of mass media greatly enhances the possibilities of information and psychological influence on people by changing the information environment of society. This is most possible for a variety of social organizations - various associations of people, social groups, public, political and government structures, some social institutions of society.

In this regard, it is possible to identify three more relatively independent groups of sources of influence of information on a person.

Groups of influence of information on a person

Thus, the activities of various groups and associations of people, in particular, some political parties, socio-political movements, nationalist and religious organizations, financial, economic and commercial structures, lobbying and mafia groups, etc., can pose an informational and psychological danger to the individual.

Their activities become dangerous when, to achieve their goals, they begin to use various means of information and psychological influence, thereby changing people’s behavior in such a way that damages their interests. There are widely known examples of the activities of some religious sects of this kind, provoking national-ethnic conflicts, and unfair advertising, in particular, the sensational story with JSC MMM (which did not have problems, but these problems arose with the majority of its clients).

As another source of influence of information, under certain conditions, one can single out the state itself, public authorities and management. This is due to the actions of government leaders and the ruling elite. The danger arises when, realizing their own interests, and sometimes just ambitions, they use the power of the state apparatus to exert information and psychological influence on people, masking their actions and true goals that do not correspond to the interests of the state, society and the population of the country.

The danger of the influence of information is also aggravated by the fact that the state often begins to experiment with the masses for the sake of “good, great goals” and influence their consciousness.

The main sources of information and psychological influence on a person can be summarized as follows:

The state (including foreign ones), authorities and management and other government structures and institutions;
- Society (various public, economic, political and other organizations, including foreign ones);
- Various social groups (formal and informal, stable and casual, large and small at the place of residence, work, study, service, living together and spending leisure time, etc.);
- Individuals (including representatives of government and public structures, various social groups, etc.).

The following are the main means of influencing information on a person:

Mass media (including information systems, for example, the Internet, etc.);
- literature (including fiction, scientific and technical, socio-political, special, etc.);
- art (including various areas of the so-called popular culture and so on.);
- education (including systems of preschool, secondary, higher and secondary specialized state and non-state education, the system of so-called alternative education, etc.);
- education (all various forms of education in the education system, public organizations - formal and informal, the system of organizing social work, etc.);
- personal communication.

Internal sources of influence of information on a person’s personality are embedded in the very biosocial nature of the human psyche, in the features of its formation and functioning, in the individual personal characteristics of the individual.

Due to these characteristics, people differ in the degree of susceptibility to various information influences, the ability to analyze and evaluate incoming information, etc.

In addition to individual characteristics, there are certain general characteristics and patterns of mental functioning that affect the degree of susceptibility to information and psychological influence and are characteristic of most people.

For example, during crisis changes in society, people’s suggestibility increases, and, accordingly, their susceptibility to informational and psychological influences increases. It also increases when a person is in large gatherings of people, in a crowd, at a rally, or a demonstration. A person experiences a kind of mental infection with a certain psycho-emotional state, which, for example, is quite clearly manifested at various entertainment events.

There are certain patterns of perception and response to little-conscious and unconscious influences, for example, to subthreshold stimuli, etc.

Psychophysiological capabilities of resisting the influence of information on a person

Knowledge of one’s individual psychological characteristics and general characteristics and patterns of functioning of the psyche is now becoming for a person not just an obligatory element of his general culture, but also a necessary condition safety in social interaction, in various interpersonal communication situations.

Paradoxical as it may seem, many people are much more eager to learn about the structure of a car and how to handle it than about their own psychological characteristics and ways of using their mental capabilities.

Getting information in society

A person constantly participates in various processes at home, at work, on the street, in public places.

A process is understood as the course, development of a phenomenon, a consistent change in the state of an object.

Some processes are characteristic of society, others - of living nature.

In some situations, a person actively participates in the process: for example, a schoolchild in the process of learning, a driver when driving a car, a worker when building a house, etc.

In other cases, he is passive and takes the position of an observer: for example, during a thunderstorm, during an excursion, while watching a play, in front of the TV screen.

A special role among all the existing variety of processes is occupied by a process called information.

The information process is the process of collecting (receiving), transmitting (exchanging), storing, processing (transforming) information.

Information processes take place in human society, in the plant and animal world. With the help of their senses, people perceive information, comprehend it and, based on their experience, existing knowledge, and intuition, make certain decisions. These decisions translate into real actions that impact the world around us.

Information processes are characteristic of the plant and animal world. Why do the leaves fall in the fall and the entire plant world falls asleep during the cold weather? Why do leaves appear again when spring arrives, grass grows, and flowers bloom?

Why do certain types of plants bloom at the same time of year? This is also the result of information processes. The cell of any plant perceives changes external environment(temperature, humidity, daylight hours) and reacts to them accordingly.

Similar, but more complex processes occur in the animal world as well. The animal's response to incoming information determines the degree of brain development. So, for a dog and a hedgehog who live in an apartment with the same owner, the same event can cause various information, which means they perceive the information processes occurring around them differently.

Example:

For a dog, the doorbell rings as a signal that a person has arrived, but for a hedgehog it means nothing, that is, it does not carry any information. On the other hand, the touch of a hand serves as a danger signal for a hedgehog - it curls up into a ball, and the dog reacts to the touch as if it were a caress.

The list of similar information processes in the animal world can be continued. Try it yourself.

It will become clear that in human society, in the plant and animal world, many information processes are constantly taking place in which people, animals and plants participate in accordance with their capabilities.

This distinguishes living nature from inanimate nature: inanimate nature does not have organs of perception and signal processing.

In inanimate nature, changes can only occur as a result of direct physical or chemical effects, and not information processes.

In the middle of the 20th century, the intensity of information processes increased many times over. The avalanche-like flow of information that pours into a person is no longer perceived in full; it becomes more and more difficult to navigate.

Sometimes it turns out to be easier to create a new material or intellectual product than to find a previously made analogue.

For more effective participation in information processes, people created and are creating various devices, which help him perceive, transform, store and use information.

Main types of information processes:

Receipt information	This is the collection of information from any sources (extracting data from a data warehouse/source, observing events and phenomena, communication, media and mass media). Obtaining information is based on reflecting various properties of processes, objects and environmental phenomena. This process is expressed in perception through the senses. To improve the perception of information, people came up with various individual devices and instruments - glasses, binoculars, microscope, stethoscope, various sensors etc.
Storage information	Information storage is important for reusing information and transmitting information over time. For long-term storage, books are used, currently computer media, devices external memory etc. Information is most often stored for repeated further work with it. In this case, to speed up the search, the information must be somehow organized. In libraries - these are card indexes; when storing using a computer - placing information in certain folders; in more complex cases - these are databases, information retrieval systems, etc.
Treatment information	Processing information involves transforming it into a form different from the original form or content of information. The process of changing information may include, for example, such actions as numerical calculations, editing, ordering, generalization, systematization, etc. The results of information processing are subsequently used for various purposes, for example: obtaining new information from already known information through logical reasoning or mathematical calculations (for example, solving a geometry problem); changing the form of information presentation without changing its content (for example, translating text from one language to another); organizing (sorting) information (for example, organizing train schedules by their departure times).
Broadcast information	The transmission of information is necessary for its dissemination. The main devices for quickly transmitting information to long distances currently there are telegraph, radio, telephone, television transmitter, telecommunication networks based on computer systems. Such means of communication are usually called information transmission channels. It should be noted that during the transfer of information, it may be distorted or lost. This happens in cases where the information channels are of poor quality or there is interference on the communication line. The transfer of information is always a two-way process in which there is a source and a receiver of information. The source transmits information, and the receiver receives it.

Provision of information by the society

The Company is obliged to provide shareholders with access to the documents provided for in paragraph 1 of Article 89 of this Federal Law.

Shareholders (shareholders) holding in total at least 25 percent of the company's voting shares have the right of access to accounting documents and minutes of meetings of the collegial executive body.

If a special right to participate is used in relation to the company Russian Federation, a subject of the Russian Federation or a municipal entity in the management of the specified company (“golden share”), such a company provides representatives of the Russian Federation, a subject of the Russian Federation or a municipal entity with access to all its documents.

The documents provided for in paragraph 1 of this article must be provided by the company within seven working days from the date of presentation of the corresponding request for review at the premises of the executive body of the company.

The Company is obliged, at the request of persons who have the right of access to the documents provided for in paragraph 1 of this article, to provide them with copies of these documents.

The fee charged by the company for providing these copies cannot exceed the costs of their production.

Additional requirements for the procedure for providing documents specified in this paragraph, as well as for the procedure for providing copies of such documents, are established by regulations of the Bank of Russia.

The company is obliged to provide shareholders of the company with access to the judicial acts available to it on a dispute related to the creation of the company, its management or participation in it, including rulings on the initiation of proceedings by the arbitration court in the case and the acceptance of a statement of claim or statement, on changing the grounds or the subject of the previously stated claim.

Within three days from the date of presentation of the corresponding request by the shareholder, the specified documents must be provided by the company for review at the premises of the executive body of the company.

At the request of a shareholder, the company is obliged to provide him with copies of these documents. The fee charged by the company for the provision of such copies cannot exceed the cost of their production.

Functions of information society

The concept of the information society was proposed by D. Bell to designate a state of development when relations of material property are replaced by knowledge and qualifications. In his work “The Formation of Post-Industrial Society” (1973), Bell showed that gradually, under the influence of the scientific and technological revolution, capitalism is being transformed into a new social system, free from antagonistic contradictions and class struggle.

The main source of development of the information society is the production and use of scientific, technical and other information. In accordance with this, knowledge, in its classical sense, gradually ceases to be a subject of education. Information technologies are changing the status of book knowledge and, accordingly, the role and forms educational process.

Informatization of society, which has been happening especially intensively in our country since the early 1990s, means a process of rapid increase in the production and dissemination of all types of socially significant information necessary to solve economic, political, cultural and other problems.

The information society performs the following functions:

1. Provides any individual, organization, or enterprise with access to all existing information necessary for their activities;
2. Produces this information and, above all, knowledge (scientific, political, economic, technological, etc.) according to the laws of exponential growth.
3. Produces and uses modern information technology (computers and their components) and communication systems (television, radio, newspaper, telephone, fax, mail, etc.) to implement the tasks specified above.
4. Provides full or partial automation of the main branches of production, transport, communications, technological processes, management, education, research and design, service, business and personal communication of people.

In the information society, the main social groups are determined by their ability to access information, knowledge, and skills. The most effective way to obtain information today is to connect a personal computer to the Internet and local specialized computer networks.

In an educational context, the Internet serves at least two functions.

The first is communication. It consists in the fact that any two points of the Network communicate with each other via an electrical signal from a fraction of a second to several minutes. Moreover, during this time the signal can circle the globe several times. This electrical signal, converted in a certain way, carries with him necessary information. This could be text, graphic image, etc.

The second function is the accumulation and processing (sorting) of information. Thanks to electronic storage, it is possible to concentrate huge amounts of information in limited spaces. Moreover, if the computer is fast, this data array is processed quite quickly. On the Internet you can now find a huge amount of information resources on almost all issues that may interest the user.

A variety of social and professional groups are interested in the development of electronic networks, including the Internet. Military, financiers, producers and consumers of goods and services. Adult learners are also a group with a strong interest in developing the Internet and ensuring free and sustainable access to it. Thanks to the Internet, over the past decade, students have begun not only to actively use computer networks, but also to re-aware themselves in virtual space. Now they are talking about the emergence of “network consciousness”, changing the very process of human life.

In connection with the development of information technology, freedom of communication is being realized, hierarchical systems in education management are being broken down and there is a transition from vertical connections (teacher-student) to horizontal ones (student-student). Establishing direct contacts between students no longer requires the approval of a teacher or other administrator. The geographic location of the student also does not matter, and with the improvement of translation programs, the problem of the interlingual barrier disappears.

We will indicate just some of the educational opportunities that the Internet and other information technologies provide to adult students:

General and professional equal access to educational and information resources on the Internet and other networks;
exchange training programs and educational technologies through their distribution on the Internet and other networks;
representation of every student, teacher and scientist in the global community;
creation of a learning environment and new jobs, thanks to distance education, virtual libraries and discussion spaces “chat” (chat).

The power of information in society

“Mountains” of literature have been written on this topic, search engines for queries about the “fourth estate” report the presence of tens of millions of answers, in universities for students studying in the direction and specialty “Journalism”, lectures are given and seminars are held on this topic, “concerned development of democracy in Russia" The European Union, within the framework of the "European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights" program, spends millions of euros to finance projects that provide for increasing the decisive role of the press in shaping public opinion in our country, however, there is no clear, generally accepted answer to the question: are the media really some higher “fourth estate” or not, has not been worked out to date.

Realizing that the media occupy an extremely important place in the life of modern society, we believe it is appropriate to outline and justify our vision of this problem. We hope that our readers will join the discussion in their comments.

Power is, in a general sense, the ability and opportunity to exert a decisive (defining is the key word in this formulation, our remark when quoting) influence on the activities and behavior of people using any means - will, authority, law, violence.

This definition is not entirely correct, because it excludes a number of functions characteristic of power, so we believe it is necessary to give a more precise definition.

Power is the ability to manage, realized in practice. It is generally accepted that power is divided into three independent branches. Likewise, in the Russian Federation, power is exercised on the basis of division into legislative, executive and judicial. The legislative, executive and judicial authorities are considered independent. (Article 10. Constitution of the Russian Federation), although it is not Martians, Venusians and Mercurians who participate in their activities, but completely earthly people, from the same society, which is not even divided into closed castes, well, except that some have more money than others and knowledge in some cases. That is, even based on common sense, they cannot be entirely independent of each other, so let’s ask ourselves the question: what unites them?

Increasingly, the expression “fourth estate” is used in relation to the mass media, which defines both the press itself and its influence in society. By default, this expression again implies a certain independence from the three generally accepted authorities, as well as some higher status relative to them. It should be noted that the term “fourth estate” is lyrical and reflects only the enormous influence of the media on society. At the same time, the media have no real power.

However, real power is not what is written on some pieces of paper, but, as we have already determined, it is the ability, realized in practice, to bring the control object (process) to the desired state. The media have a huge impact on society, but do they solve the problems of goal setting in relation to it, as well as the problem of developing a concept for achieving goals?

Let us first present the arguments of our opponents, 100% of whom are practically representatives of the journalistic corps themselves, acting on the principle “you can’t take care of yourself...”

Their main arguments include:

In our time, which is called the “era of the formation of the information society,” the “power of information” is taking a leading position in the system of society management, one of essential components which is journalism, and this power exerts penetrating pressure on all areas of life, and no less strong than the pressure of economic and political power;
- the media are extremely important, therefore, de facto, they are the power that determines the vector of worldviews (of course, that is also a pearl - our note) of people, informs and reflects virtually the entire spectrum of human relationships;
- the “fourth power” is also legitimate, like other types of power, although it has only a “specific form of legitimation within the framework of the rule of law”, as one of the institutions of direct democracy, and the measure of its legitimacy depends on the degree of trust in it by the audience, manifested in support its judgments, sentences and proposals in the political, economic, social, cultural and other public spheres;
- The media are “power”, since in democratic countries they perform the most important function - the creation and development of civil society, including ensuring the necessary level of freedom of speech;
- the conscious desire of a significant part of journalists to consider themselves “power”, moreover, their continuous exaggeration of the role of the “fourth estate” and the desire to turn into a “mediacracy”, become the “first power” or even “superpower” through the efforts of the media workers themselves who believe that they know everything better than anyone, understand more accurately, judge more accurately than anyone else, see solutions to problems better than anyone else and are ready to use any means to achieve their goals.

And now about our position. Let's start with the fact that we respect the media, understand their role and importance as an integral part of the management system of society, which, first of all, performs important information function.

But do the media themselves set goals in relation to the ideological attitudes of society, as they themselves claim, or do they simply broadcast what already exists in society, has already been launched into it by someone? Do the media set goals in relation to the whole society, as a kind of public institution of its self-government, or are their own goals prosaic and boil down to increasing ratings and receiving various accompanying “benefits” from advertising, and they achieve these small goals by exploiting, as they say, “ hot topics, trending news? Does the media itself make topics hot and trending, or does someone set goals using the media as a means to achieve those goals? Let's at least remember how the abbreviation media stands for - mass media. Can means achieve goal setting?

If we relate to the full function of management, then the Mass Media are only a means of conveying this or that information that other types of government have considered necessary to convey to society. At the same time, the legislative, executive, and judicial authorities work at stages 5 to 7, but do not set goals for society or develop a concept for achieving the goals, although many legislative documents are called “development concept,” “strategy,” etc. By the fact of their activity, the media carry out an ideological function - they clothe the ideas present in society, both in the heads of the journalists themselves and those politicians from whose hands they feed, in a wrapper that is attractive to the crowd of the population, and therefore work at the 5th and 6th stages of the full function management.

Sharing information with society

Types of exchanges in society:

Material;
- energy;
- informational (relevant since the mid-twentieth century).

A holistic system is characterized by exchange between elements (V.G. Afanasyev).

The subject of our consideration is information exchange. The history of improving information exchange coincides with the history of the creation and improvement of sign systems and the technology of creating signs.

The main phases of information exchange are:

Oral phase;
- written phase;
- book phase;
- computer phase.

D.S. Robertson (USA), based on the interdependence of civilizational and information processes, put forward the formula “civilization is information.”

Based on the quantitative measures of mathematical information theory, Robertson ranks civilizations by the amount of information they produce as follows:

Level 0 - information capacity of an individual’s brain - 107 bits;
Level 1 - oral communication within a community, village or tribe - amount of circulating information - 109 bits;
Level 2 - written culture; a measure of public awareness is the Library of Alexandria, which has 532,800 scrolls containing 1011 bits of information;
Level 3 - book culture: there are hundreds of libraries, tens of thousands of books, newspapers, and magazines are published, the total capacity of which is estimated at 1017 bits;
Level 4 - information society with electronic information processing of 1025 bits.

Let us consider the contribution of each historical phase to improving the efficiency of information exchange.

The development of speech and language is an objective process in the development of society.

Labor played a role in human development. Speech influenced his development to no less extent.

Speech is a reflection of thought processes (the tip of the iceberg). Speech culture reflects human development.

As mathematical analysis has shown, language has an average of 20% redundancy. This means that any message can be shortened by 1/5 without loss of information, but this sharply reduces the noise immunity of the information.

Yu.V. Rozhdestvensky identified 10 preliterate sign systems:

Signs, including symptoms of traditional medicine;
- fortune telling;
- omens (signs);
- language;
- visual group: music; graphic and pictorial representation, including ornament; plastic arts, dance, pantomime;
- applied arts: architecture, costume, folk crafts;
- measuring group: measures;
- spatial reference points;
- signals in the control loop;
- rituals.

The written phase helped solve the problem of storing information; it became possible to ensure a connection between the past and the future (maintaining continuity in development).

Writing, as the first form of modeling the natural and social world spatially separated from the subject, opens up society, in the strict, scientific sense of the word, as a civilization, that is, it makes it possible to operate with social semantic information without direct contact. Writing was a semiotic revolution in the iconic ways of organizing society.

Writing serves as one of the most important means of preserving language alive.

The book phase began with Gutenberg's press (1440 - 1450) - the beginning of the era of printing.

The emergence of the opportunity to ensure the preservation of authorship, intellectual property (book imprint), and a significantly more massive and rapid exchange of information.

“Printing was a powerful tool that preserved the thought of an individual and increased its power hundreds of times” V.I. Vernadsky.

Communication processes as a whole determine the social nature of man.

Redundancy of text (prose, poetry).

The informational capacity of poetry is 1.5 times greater than that of prose, i.e. a message of 150 lines can be conveyed in one hundred lines of poetry. This fact is explained by the fact that verse allows for greater freedom of expression and greater imagery than prose. These qualities of the verse provide it with greater expressiveness, allowing it to convey more information with the same number of characters. Academician A.N. Kolmogorov established that the information content of Pushkin’s poems is very close to the limit - information ability of the Russian language in general, but of modern poets - significantly lower.

The industrial communication system is the highest point in the development of book culture, but already in its heyday, signs of its erosion are noticeable, for example, impersonal mass communication, oppositional information and documentary activity, as well as the spread of the myth of the information crisis.

Book information science has begun to reduce its effectiveness, a contradiction is emerging between the flow of current literature and individual reading capabilities, and a situation is emerging where it is easier to discover a new fact or create new theory than to make sure that they have not yet been discovered or withdrawn (hence the unjustified duplication of scientific and design work, which slows down the pace of scientific and technological progress).

Thus, there is a need for more advanced technical means to alleviate the information crisis.

The book is currently in electronic form.

The book's disappearance is not predicted. It is necessary to preserve the book as an attribute of culture (formation of imaginative, abstract thinking).

The largest library in the world, the Library of Congress, stores more than 50 million books, including the Gutenberg Bible.

A new paperless stage in the development of social communications. Paper is needed only for the reproduction of visually formatted documents. The role of systematization, storage, processing of information, as well as its transmission over long distances, has been taken over by technology.

The main difference between electronic dialogue and interpersonal oral communication, according to Professor A.V. Sokolov, is not so much the mediation by the screen, which exists in the case of a video telephone or industrial television, not to mention cinema, but rather the fact of communication not with a person, but With electronic memory. The dialogue “person - computer” is the main difference between electronic communication and oral or documentary communication, where a direct or document-mediated dialogue “person - person” takes place.

Firstly, in the conditions of informatization and the presence of global information networks, a computer book becomes integral part global polylogue and intertext.

Secondly, the unprecedented mobility and variability of the content and design of a computer page literally pushes the reader-viewer into a dialogue with it.

Thirdly, its potential supercapacity, provided by a global network of databases, knowledge bases and expert systems, to which each individual screen book can be connected, making it a book of “a thousand and one authors,” begins to operate in a fundamentally different way.

The computer page expands the sociocultural range in an unpredictable way. We are talking about unpredictability in the sense of the transition from a rigidly fixed text, characteristic of classical written culture, to “soft” text on a computer screen with its instant readiness for transformation.

The use of hypertext technologies in the social sphere, which is described by many parameters that are difficult to formalize, is especially important.

Another reason for the popularity of these technologies is the opportunity they provide to fulfill purely individual information needs.

Stages of information society

There are four stages in the development of humanity, called information revolutions, which have brought changes to its development:

1. The first stage is associated with the invention of writing. This led to a giant qualitative and quantitative leap in the development of society. It became possible to accumulate knowledge and transfer it to subsequent generations, i.e. means and methods for accumulating information appeared. Some sources believe that the content of the first information revolution is the dissemination and introduction of language into human activity and consciousness.
2. The second stage is the invention of printing. This gave humanity a new way of storing information, and also made cultural values ​​more accessible.
3. The third stage is the invention of electricity. The telegraph, telephone and radio appeared, making it possible to quickly transmit and accumulate information in any volume. Information communications tools have appeared.
4. The fourth stage is the invention of microprocessor technology and personal computers.

The impetus for this revolution was the creation of computers in the mid-40s. This latest revolution gave impetus to human civilization for the transition from an industrial to an information society - a society in which the majority of workers are engaged in the production, storage, processing and sale of information, especially its highest form - knowledge.

This began with the introduction of modern means of processing and transmitting information into various spheres of human activity - this process is called informatization.

The information society is a society in which the majority of workers are engaged in the production, storage, processing and sale of information, especially its highest form - knowledge.

Some character traits information society:

1. The volume of information will increase and people will use special technical means to process and store it.
2. The use of computers is inevitable.
3. The driving force of society will be the production of information products.
4. The share of mental labor will increase, because the product of production in the information society will be knowledge and intelligence.
5. There will be a reassessment of values, way of life and cultural leisure will change.
6. Computer equipment, computer networks, and information technologies are developing.
7. People have all kinds of electronic devices and computerized devices.
8. Machines will be involved in the production of energy and material products, and humans will mainly be involved in information processing.
9. In the field of education, a system of continuous education will be created.
10. Children and adults will be able to study at home with the help of computer programs and telecommunications.
11. The market for information services appears and develops.

Human activity associated with the processes of receiving, transforming, accumulating and transmitting information is called information activity.

Nowadays, computers are used to process not only numbers, but also other types of information. Thanks to this, computers have firmly entered the life of modern people and are widely used in manufacturing, design work, business and many other industries.

But modern technical means of working with information include not only computers, but also other devices that ensure its transmission, processing and storage:

Network equipment: modems, cables, network adapters;
Analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters;
digital photo and video cameras, digital voice recorders;
Recording devices (CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-RW, etc.);
Printing equipment;
Digital music studios;
Medical equipment for ultrasound and tomography;
Scanners in archives, libraries, shops, exams and polling stations;
TV tuners for supplying a television signal to a computer;
Plotters and various printers;
Multimedia projectors;
Flash memory, also used in players and cameras;
Cell phones.

In addition to personal computers, there are powerful computing systems for solving complex scientific, technical and defense problems, processing huge databases, and operating telecommunication networks:

Multiprocessor systems for parallel data processing (control of complex technological processes);
Servers in a global computer network that manage work and store a huge amount of information;
Special computers for design and engineering work.

The role of information in the development of society

Among specialists in the field of social and humanitarian knowledge, the point of view according to which the history of mankind is considered as a sequence of technological revolutions is becoming increasingly widespread. By technological revolution we mean a fundamental change in the technological structure of society, i.e., the dominant methods of organizing social production and people’s livelihoods. However, the basis of any technological revolution is the information revolution, one of the first definitions of which was given by the famous Russian philosopher A.I. Rakitov. According to this definition, the information revolution is a change in the instrumental basis, the method of transmitting and storing information, as well as the amount of information that is available to the active part of the population. Let's consider five information revolutions that were identified by A. I. Rakitov.

The first information revolution is associated with the emergence of language, as well as articulate speech. The emergence of language made it possible to accumulate and spread knowledge, which was passed on from one generation to another in the form of legends, myths and tales. The guardians of knowledge were elders and clergy, who were universally respected in primitive society. However, with their death, much knowledge had to be formed anew, since it was simply lost. Thus, the accumulation and preservation of knowledge in primitive society was extremely slow, and its preservation was not reliable enough.

The second information revolution is associated with the invention of writing, which made it possible not only to ensure the safety of the knowledge already accumulated by humanity, but also to create conditions for its wider dissemination. The invention of writing had important consequences for the development of civilization, which we still feel today. First, it made the development of science possible. Secondly, with the invention of writing, new types of information communications between people appeared. Historical records and literature also appeared, and the concept of education took on a new meaning. Only those people who could read and write were considered educated. Finally, the advent of writing contributed to the accumulation and dissemination of knowledge on various types of activities. This knowledge, embodied in documents, drawings, drawings, etc., later became known as technologies.

The third information revolution, which began during the Renaissance, is associated with the invention of printing, the widespread use of which led to the first information explosion. Libraries appeared in which printed books were stored, which became the main guardians and sources of knowledge. Since printed books differed from handwritten ones in greater circulation and lower cost, educational opportunities in society expanded significantly. The demand for printed products has led to printing houses becoming one of the most important types of industrial enterprises. The third information revolution reached its highest point when print media appeared. These media began to include newspapers, magazines, information directories, advertisements, etc., the volume of information in which increased exponentially.

The fourth information revolution, which began in the 19th century, is associated with the invention and widespread distribution of such means of information communication as radio, television and telephone. Thanks to these means of information communication, modern man feels involved in the events that occur not only in his country, but throughout the world. He is part of the world information space, which has a huge influence on the formation of his consciousness. Everything that happens on our planet today can quickly become known to the majority of people, who increasingly perceive it as a universal home. Therefore, we can say that the information revolution is making public consciousness more and more global.

The fifth information revolution, which began in the mid-20th century, is associated with the use of digital computing technology. Subcomputing technology refers to a set of tools designed for automatic data processing. If this data is presented as a set of numbers, then computing technology is called digital. Digital computing technology is able to solve problems that analogue technology cannot, i.e. computer technology, which represents numerical data using analog physical variables (length, pressure, voltage, etc.). Its rapid development in recent decades is associated with the advent of personal computers, which to a large extent changed not only people’s activities, but also their psychology. The fifth information revolution, which has given man an unusually effective means of enhancing his intellectual activity, should raise civilization to a qualitatively new level.

Some researchers identify not five information revolutions, but three. Thus, the American sociologist O. Toffler identifies three waves in the development of society - agricultural, industrial and informational. The content of the first wave is the transition to agriculture, the second is the transition to classical capitalism, and the third is the transition to a society based on knowledge. Another American sociologist, D. Bell, whose name is associated with the development of the concept of post-industrial society, believes that humanity is already experiencing a third technological revolution. The first of these revolutions was marked by the invention of the steam engine, thanks to which previously unimaginable technological innovations were introduced. The second technological revolution is associated with advances in two fields - electricity and chemistry. Electricity, as a form of energy that could be transmitted over vast distances, made possible the decentralization of production, provided a new source of light, and also made it possible to transmit coded messages over wires and convert voice into electrical signals. As for chemistry, it has made it possible to create synthetic materials that are not found in nature. Today, the third technological revolution associated with the industrial production of information is unfolding.

The value of information in society

The question of the value of this or that information in the daily practice of any adult or company arises so often that their understanding of the category “value of information” is taken for granted. People invariably associate such value with utility and benefit for themselves, i.e. information is valuable if it is useful/beneficial. It would seem that everything is clear, there is nothing further to talk about. But even with the most superficial analysis of this topic, many interesting details arise related to the perception of the value of information and the impact on it.

Not only is the scale of information value different for each individual, it can also be easily changed, and around this change the efforts of an entire army of managers, salespeople, writers, and political strategists are concentrated. Competition for consumers has grown into competition in the sphere of channels for providing psychological influence. Management theorists have developed special tools for managing customer values. In the social sphere, sophisticated technologies are used that affect the mechanisms of formation of values ​​among various social groups. Interest in this topic is growing every year, because managing the perception of the value of information provides truly unlimited opportunities. Undoubtedly, everyone who understands this and masters this “science” will be able to achieve their goals faster, and the goals that they set for themselves will become more rational. First, we need to stop confusing the concepts of “psychological influence” and “information value management.”

The generally accepted definition of the value of information is formulated as follows. The value of information depends on the purpose of its recipient. The more information helps achieve a goal, the more valuable it is considered. If the goal is achievable by several possible ways the value of information can be determined by the reduction in resource costs (material, time) brought by this information.

Although in principle it is clear what we are talking about, this definition clearly requires decoding, because behind it lies many details that give the term “value of information” full right to exist.

The value (cost) of information is determined not on the basis of the labor expended on its production, but on the basis of its value to the consumer. The value will be proportional to the estimated amount of benefit derived by its consumer. Moreover, if the benefit cannot be obtained immediately after receiving the information, its value decreases. The cost-reducing coefficient of relevance will be smaller, the more distant and uncertain the prospect of using the information. Thus, the low price of all kinds of educational literature is associated precisely with the extremely low coefficient of relevance of the information contained in it.

The value of information for its consumer will be maximum if, immediately after its perception, the individual can use it with immediate material benefit. The criterion for directly assessing the usefulness of the information received is the amount of material benefit. All other criteria will be indirect, i.e. will not be directly related to possible material benefits. For example, knowledge of mathematics can bring undoubted benefits, pleasure and even material benefits. But in order to get this benefit, you need to make a lot of additional efforts: either become a tutor and find rich students, or write a scientific paper with a significant economic effect, or defend a dissertation and become a professor at a prestigious university.

Information “the key to the apartment where the money is” is much more valuable for any individual than information about the mental characteristics of managers, staff motivation in times of crisis, principles of building effective teams, etc. So, valuable information should always contain some direct instruction for obtaining or saving a scarce resource.

If there is a lot of information, then its value inevitably decreases. This, in all likelihood, occurs in connection with the purely mental characteristics of the human perception system. Interest in information dissipates if it is impossible to immediately place clear emphasis on it that is important for making a decision about its use.

From the standpoint of the designated criterion for assessing the value of information - the amount of material benefit received “here and now” - the value of any book will be practically zero. This is clearly evidenced by its price. The price includes the cost of production and distribution, publishing commissions and royalties.

Typically, authors publish books to gain a certain amount of publicity. Many writers are willing to go without money if only their book is published. Books by a famous author are published and reprinted in large editions. This is where the impressive fees come in. However, they are not related at all to the value of the information provided, but to the scale of the commercial project.

Fame promises the author many material benefits. For a fee, he is asked to speak in the media, write a review, give a lecture, or make a presentation. The “Wedding General” is necessary to give greater social value to the process of extracting material benefits. For example, a computer manufacturing company uses well-known artists for marketing purposes to “promote” its own brand. It is quite natural that a product associated with a person popular among the people is bought better, and more wins in the competition. famous brand.

People who do not have information that is valuable to them in terms of benefiting from it “here and now” are forced to sell their services. They either sell their skilled labor or trade the information at their disposal that is of considerable value to others. A lawyer who knows the laws well can help a businessman get out of a difficult situation. A mathematician can do a statistical analysis of sales and see some trend that is important for marketing. A surveyor sells his site survey services to a construction company that wants to build residential buildings in the area. The inventor sells his patents to the manufacturer, the government official sells various secrets politicians and businessmen, etc.

Thus, there is a large category of people for whom the value of information is determined not by the benefit “here and now”, but by the benefit that they can get by somehow using it in the future. Here we can talk about the potential value of information. We come to the conclusion that it is not the possession of information that is important, but only its use. Only when knowledge is used for some purpose is it truly important and valuable. The value of knowledge can be expressed through the effectiveness of its use in practice.

The information contained in a book chosen by a physicist will generally have no value to an accountant, just as the information in a book chosen by an accountant will have no value to a physicist. Both cases imply the presence of very general distant behavioral goals: to obtain an economic or mathematical education, i.e. build special mappings of the problem environment. Quantifying the value of potential information in these cases is hardly possible.

So, the value of information is a more general property than the usefulness of information. In addition to useful information, that is, realized information, information may have potential value and be set aside for solving future problems.

A truly rational person will only be interested in information that brings profit “here and now.” But who will voluntarily provide him with such information?! Why would anyone want to hand over the “goose that lays the golden eggs”? This means that a rational person must force someone to produce useful information. But where is the guarantee that the slave will work hard for the master and give him the next enrichment technology? Rather, he will create a deadly weapon in order to get rid of the oppression of the master he hates. Here, however, there is an option that a rational person will exchange valuable information for a worthy reward - and this is how the economy seems to work. However, we all know well how economic exchange actually works.

An entrepreneur always thinks in very specific categories, in the field of his immediate interests - only the process of extracting material benefits he has started (obtaining scarce resources), and he readily pays for services that are directly related to this process. Spending on fashionable clothes, delicacies, education, entertainment and recreation are indirect costs in the process of life, clearly oriented towards obtaining material benefits. Thus, in economics, indirect costs are costs that, unlike direct costs, cannot be directly attributed to the cost of manufacturing products (providing services, providing work) by an enterprise or organization. The composition of indirect costs is clearly defined in the economics of an enterprise; for an individual it will be approximately the same. During periods of crisis, people first start saving on indirect expenses - this pattern is evident everywhere.

The information an entrepreneur receives has maximum value for him and he willingly pays for it if he can use it directly in the process of extracting material benefits. Everything else is just lyrics. Any information that is not directly related to the extraction of benefits is usually financed on a residual basis. True, there are special technologies for artificially increasing the value of information, thanks to which it is possible to force an individual to actively consume the information offered to him. Most of these technologies are well described and information about them is publicly available. However, this information is not regarded by people as valuable, since it does not provide material benefits “here and now.” Thus, a person turns out to be almost unprotected from social programming, which is more of a pattern than some kind of annoying misunderstanding. The exception is people with pronounced abilities to create a sustainable microcosm around themselves; these are, as a rule, extremely talented, large-scale and productive people (entrepreneurs, scientists, artists).

If a person wants to be deceived, it is unlikely that arguments about the need to counteract deception will be able to convince him. Psychologists talk a lot about the irrationality of human behavior and cannot find an explanation for this phenomenon. In general, it turns out that knowing the patterns does not mean that material benefits will be derived from them. The whole point is that a person is not able to simultaneously ensure his own material gain and be at the level of abstraction from which he can control himself and rationally evaluate his own behavior. Most likely, in the future, biorobots and cyberbiological formations will have this ability. Man is destined to fully experience the advantages and disadvantages of his own irrationality without any chance of overcoming it.

People constantly demonstrate the irrationality of their own behavior, which some even call stupidity, and no one is going to learn the proper lessons from this. The philosopher will explain this behavior from the standpoint of dialectics, trying to reassure himself and others, saying that everything is happening quite naturally. It seems that all that remains for an individual to do is to act as we are programmed, i.e. do obviously irrational things with an intuitive awareness of the inexpediency of this activity.

Information has always played an extremely important role in human life.

It is a well-known saying that the one whoever owns the information owns the world. Another message is worth more than life. According to legend, September 13, 490 BC.

The Greek warrior-messenger, who ran from Marathon to Athens, without stopping on the way, fell dead, but brought the news of the victory over the Persians.

Since ancient times, collecting and systematizing information about the world around us has helped people survive in difficult conditions - experience and skills in making hunting and labor tools, creating clothing and medicines have been passed on from generation to generation.

The information was constantly updated and supplemented - each studied phenomenon made it possible to move on to something new, more complex. Over time, large volumes of data about the surrounding world contributed to the development of scientific and technological progress and, as a result, the entire society as a whole - people were able to learn to manage various types of matter and energy.

Over time, the role of information in human life has become more and more significant. It was necessary to study and understand not only the laws of nature, but also the concepts and values ​​of human society - literature, art, architecture, etc.

Information has become one of the most important strategic and management resources, along with resources - human, financial, and material. Its production and consumption constitute the necessary basis for the effective functioning and development of various spheres of social life, and, above all, the economy. This means that not only sources of information in any part of our planet become available to every person, but also the new information generated by him becomes the property of all humanity. In modern conditions, the right to information and access to it are of vital value for all members of society. The growing role of information in society has been the subject of scientific understanding. Theories have been put forward to explain its place and significance. The most popular are the theories of post-industrial and information society.

The world is entering a new era– informational, in the age of electronic economic activity, online communities and organizations without borders. The advent of new times will radically change the economic and social aspects of society. Such changes most directly affect the place of man in the information world. A person changes in accordance with the vector of information and technical characteristics of society. However, this is not at all a passive acceptance of new conditions of production and consumption. A person acts as a subject of information reality that goes far beyond information and technical characteristics.

The informatization of everyday life and the emergence of a new information field of human existence does not pass without leaving a mark on the human life world. In the electronic space, behavioral standards and value orientations of individuals change. New conditions for world humanity are manifested in a special form in Russia. Modern Russia is not yet an information society

The information society is often called a mass society and a consumer society. This is due to such informatization processes as the development of the sphere of mass communications. Global and local computer networks, cellular communications, television and radio broadcasting systems, being components of the information structure of society, also provide communication between people. Mass communication is one of the important phenomena of modern society, which significantly affects the development of all technologies, information technologies in particular, both within each country and between countries. Often, informatization processes are given a negative connotation, which is inherent in a consumer society. Many representatives of social and scientific thought see in informatization processes that are destructive for the spiritual sphere of society and associate information civilization with the antipode of culture and spirituality.

In the field of theoretical understanding of ongoing processes, there is also still no consensus regarding the ways of development of the information society, the priority of one or another of its directions, the clarity and precision of formulations and concepts expressing what is happening in the information sphere. Therefore, theoretical research into both conceptual and practical (real) prerequisites for understanding current information processes remains relevant