The Relationship between Information and People in the Modern World

In his article, Foer raises the question of the role of the memory in the modern world. As Foer points out, nowadays there is no need for people to remember large amounts of information since electronic devices do the job for them (Foer, 160). However, Foer does not consider this issue to be an unambiguously negative one. Instead of this, the author analyzes the development of the concept of memory and its importance for people, especially those who were to be called well educated and intelligent ones, within the flow of history.
Eventually, Foer comes to the conclusion that modern state of forgetfulness is created not by the laziness as it was predicted by Socrates, but by the fact that the modern world filled with information of various kinds leaves people very little or no time at all to read carefully and remember things (Foer, 167). This assumption correlates with the ideas of Bechdel who describes the modern person as the one in constant search of new bits of information from any available source, including one's own sub consciousness. Therefore, the idea that can be extracted from both writings is that there is no reason to be scared of the new type of behavior and attitude towards information and its remembering.
This state of affairs was created by the changes in the nature of the way people stored information in books. Foer's observations about the development of writing from the scriptio continua to the invention of the printing press provide insight into the way people at different eras understood the memory and its aim. Until the Middle Ages people did not understand written word as means of storage of the information itself. It was rather developed in order to assist people to store data in their brains. It was only with the development of technology and the new possibility to have access to the great amounts of information that it turned out that human memory is incapable to operate all of it without any external storage (Foer, 162-167).
The above mentioned observation raises doubts about the impact of the development of technology, by which the modern means of information storage rather than only printing are meant, on the level of general human intelligence. On the one hand, the grim prophecy of Socrates has come true, and people have lost their ability to keep in mind the vast amounts of information. However, Foer makes a good point about the irony of the fact that this precaution of Socrates has survived to the present times thanks to the effort of his pupils who have written it down (Foer, 161). This smart observation leads to the question of the appropriateness of the old attitude towards memory and intelligence in terms of the modern life. Human memory does not work like any of the known machine. It means that the information cannot be accessed by some  stable address. It rather linked to the number of associations within human brain. Practically, this means that the memory of certain place or fact can be recalled unexpectedly at random moment. At the same time, there is always the probability that one may fail to remember the thing one needs at the right moment.
As it is shown on the Foer's article, this was not the major issue at times when people had much more time and less information to learn. There were few books available to be read which practically meant that people were able to read them multiple times and almost learn by heart their contents. As it is already mentioned, the invention of printing press has changed the situation dramatically. The increasing amount of information has made it necessary to revise the common approach to memory and the storage of information. People started to remember the addresses by which the needed information can be found rather than information itself.
This observation leads back to the already mentioned issue of unreliability of the human memory, which, although it stores immense amounts of information, is not always capable of reproducing it at the right time (Foer, 175). Therefore, it is necessary to provide the brain with necessary hints to recall as much information and possible. Again this leads back to the consideration of importance of certain piece of information. It was easier for the people of the old times to decide what they need to know and what information is irrelevant. Things are totally different nowadays. Today everyone faces so much written, visual and oral information that it is virtually impossible to concentrate on everything and accumulate it all at once. Therefore the question of choosing, which information to focus on becomes the burning issue. To solve this problem, people like Gordon Bell endeavor to gather as much information about their everyday lives as possible through electronic media (Foer, 172-174). Even though this means recording almost everything, such approach reduce the chance to miss something important and makes it possible for one to remember virtually any moment of one's life.
One may argue that there is now practical application for keeping such thorough record of human life. There are instances, however, like the one described by Bechdel in The Ordinary Devoted Mother. Indeed, the photograph from the infantry that tells about the distant past and helps to solve the inner riddle that has marred person's life for many reals is the vivid example of why human life needs to be remembered by any means available. Therefore, there is no reason to be scared by the Foer's assumption that within some time human memory as it is known nowadays may be completely replaced by means of the artificial devices for the storage of data, which eventually may be fully incorporated into human brains (Foer, 174). This does not mean that human brain will be supplanted by artificial intelligence. After all, the times where the intelligence of people was assessed by the amount of information they know are long gone. Nowadays, it is rather the ability to navigate in the endless ocean of data, draw the right implications and make the right conclusions out of them, that makes one successful and intelligent in the eyes of society. Bearing this in mind one may conclude that there is no ethical dilemma in providing people with large storages to keep as much information as they can since the responsibility to use the information at hand wisely still lays on them.
This idea seems promising even more benefits in relation with the Bechdel's work. Along with the already mentioned vivid example of how the saving of the little and unimportant moments of life may change it for better in the future, the very way by which the piece is composed appeals to the modern understanding of memory and its influence over the human life. Although the format of comics is traditionally considered to be suitable for children due to their limited ability to focus on large text and well developed imagination, Bechdel proves that it can be useful in communication with adults about serious issues. Unexpected as it seems at the first sight, it makes perfect sense after it has been given closer look to. This type of work brings one back to the consideration of memory as the storage of information in which the data are gathered chaotically at the first sight, but in fact they are connected by associative rather than logical links (Foer, 165, 175). Therefore, visual art helps the author to appeal to inner associations of every reader better than by means of ordinary text. This means that along with revealing personal issues in the work the author is capable to address personal emotions and call memories of each individual reader. Visual arts allow Bechdel to write about herself and everyone at the same time.
Another way in which the story written by Bechdel supports the idea of importance of keeping record of the things that surround people is the mentioning of the habit of both mother and daughter to keep diaries (Bechdel, 84-85). By this detail the author reveals instinctive desire to grab and keep as much data as possible in fear to miss something important. As it is already mentioned, the proof of this importance is found at the end of the story. Moreover, the desire to focus on external world rather than the internal one in these diaries contributes to the concept of external signs as the causes of remembering things. In this regard, writing down things acts in its original role, described by Foer. It does not store the information about feelings in itself, but rather provides hints for human memory to recall them. This point shows that the change in the approach to the written word are not as dramatic as Foer suggests.
One more illustration to the value of gathering information rather than its immediate analysis is seen in the lines I'm trying so hard to get down what she's saying that I'm not really listening properly. The character seeks to obtain as much data as possible, she is anxious to not miss any detail that may give her hints to the real self of her mother.  In order to navigate the information, which is, as it is already mentioned, the key skill in the modern world, she has to create her own ocean of it.
Information is the currency of the 21st Century. People with all the right information are able to utilize it for economic and social gain. However, it is difficult for all of humanity to be endowed with similar information.  For example, a student who is in his final year of undergraduate studies may not remember every detail he learnt in first year. Does this mean that such a student is uninformed or unprepared in his discipline of study? I think, not.
As more and more tools for storing information are developed, we are confounded by the problem of selecting what to recall in an instance and what to ignore. Foer and Bechdel seem to recognize this conundrum. Students spend almost a quarter of their lifetime in schools trying to understand phenomena, yet when the entire process is completed, we realize that we can barely remember all the information we have been bombarded with. The intriguing part of it all is that we seem unfazed by our collective amnesia because at the back of our minds, we know there are means of accessing this information again. What if thus was not possible? The question seems rather moot given the fact that the information we consume has been disseminated courtesy of mans ability to remain innovative and develop means of storing this information.
 For people with the impatience and desire to not to miss anything in their lives, Bechdel (85) shows us that it is futile to even consider knowing everything in life. Even sheer dedication in keeping a diary of our everyday activities cannot make us remember everything. The human brain was not configured to capture every little nugget of information. As Foer admits, the present efforts by technology companies to develop means of accessing information through artificial intelligence seems to have been inspired by the desire to capture everything in an instant.
Applications such as Siri that use complex algorithms to read the minds of users are intended to understand the thinking capabilities of man and ten respond by supply the right type of information.  The frustration of the daughter in Bechdels Ordinary Mother in her bid to understand her mothers thoughts and past experiences serve to prove that we cannot store everything in our minds. Most importantly, we cannot expect people to remember things at a go, since the process of remembering requires patience and a deep investment in memory, to use the words of Joshua Foer.
 It seems that as Bechdels plays tricks on her, the more inquisitive and self-reflective she becomes, with the final result that she is able to finally lay her ghosts of yearning for remembrance to rest. Fantasy has this warping impact on reality, confusing and interfering with the process of trying to discern dreams from facts. However, self-reflection seems to be effective in retrieving these hidden memories.  In the conundrum of self-realization, Bechdel is able to piece together portions of her childhood in a painstakingly slow and tedious process.
 Foer seems to recognize the importance of committing our mental resources to reason if we are to retrieve hidden information. He posits that we should consider the certain aides memoire if we desire to remember things we have come to forgotten. He suggests using tools such as personal journals and reading books to refresh our minds. Through a disciplined process of reflection and a shift in attitudes towards the acquisition of knowledge, we will finally be able to recreate our past memories and end up like Bechdel in her interesting comic drama.
To sum it up, both works, despite the differences in their style and purpose, show the picture of modern life as one based on the necessity to possess information (which nowadays has different meaning than remember it) in order to both achieve success in life (which is claimed by Foer) and live in harmony with oneself (which is described by Bechdel). It is vital to realize that there is no point in being afraid of the new turn in human history connected with the advent of the informational era. They say that time is money, and it seems reasonable to add that information becomes even more valuable currency. However, as well as it is important to know how to spend money well, it is also necessary to be able to use the information available at hand for the best. The new mode of thinking and conduct does not make people less intelligent or dependent on technology. It is just the logical continuation of human development. After all, it is the ability to adapt to the requirements of the world arround that allowed humanity to evolve in what it is nowadays.
Works Cited
Bechdel, Alison. 'The Ordinary Devoted Mother'. Are You My Mother?
Foer, Joshua. 'The End of Remembering'.