Are you an inforg?

Reading Floridi’s (2007) article, ‘A look into the future impact of ICT on our lives’ gave me pause to consider, as I often do, the type of world that will be left for my children and grandchildren.

If the infosphere is becoming all-encompassing, then at some point, there will be no differentiation between online and offline, digital and non-digital – how do I teach my children to grow up in a world like that? Am I the last generation to truly understand the difference, having grown up digitally un-connected?

Connected devices or objects are becoming increasingly common, and more and more people are connected for longer than they are not. I wear a smart watch that tracks my sleeping patterns and use a CPAP machine that tracks and uploads data of apnoea episodes. I have a smartphone (as do most people) that I use to do everything from messaging, ordering meals, booking accommodation and although perhaps old-fashioned, make phone calls.

By Floridi’s (2007) definition I am an inforg, I spend more time connected than not. I am not sure how I feel about this. Was it inevitable? Possibly. I am conscious of the amount of time I spend online, especially when I am with my children, preferring to spend time being offline with them. However, my children increasingly want to spend time in online environments, such as Minecraft.

At least they invite me to join them.

The biggest questions that I have been left with after reading this article are:

1. How do I teach my children and students to navigate in a world that is no longer on or offline but just is?
2.  Do I truly need to receive steps data from my shoes or consumption data from a drink bottle to make sure I have had enough water? I feel that if the data does not inform me usefully or enhance my quality of life then it has no value and I would opt out.
3. Will our moral and ethical codes change along with the environment? People often seem to have a different set of values when online than in person (I am thinking of the keyboard warriors here).

Floridi, L. (2007). A look into the future impact of ICT on our lives. The Information Society, 23, 59-64. CSU Library.