Deconstructing the information era

Information theory, while claiming universality, ignores civilisation and spiritual perspectives of knowledge. Moreover, the information society heralded by many as the victory of humanity over darkeness is merely capitalism disguised but now commodigying selves as well. This essay argues for a more communicative approach wherein futures can be created through authentic global conversations - a gaia of civilisations. Current trends, however, do not lie in that direction. Instead, we are moving towards temporal and cultural impoverishment. Is the Web then the iron cage or can a global ohana (family, civil society) be created throug cybertechnologies? Answering these and other questions are possible only when we move to layers of analysis outside conventional understandings of information and the information era and to a paradigm where communication and culture are central