Book HackThe Ascent of InformationBy Caleb Scharf
In a Nutshell
Astrobiologist Caleb Scharf lifts the lid on one of the most profound forces in our lives: information. How does it affect us, our world, and the universe?
Favorite Quote
You are … both an essential part of the machinery of information and a filthy leaky creature, splashing around in the ocean of letters, words, and bits. You simply cannot help but consume and shed data.
Caleb Scharf
Introduction
Information is organized data — raw observations organized into a form that has meaning for humans.
Today, we take our abundance of information for granted. We don't realize the effects that it – and the power-hungry infrastructure supporting it – has on our society, planet, and the wider universe.
Caleb Scharf is an author and director of the Columbia Astrobiology Center at Columbia University.
In his 2021 book The Ascent of Information: Books, Bits, Genes, Machines, and Life's Unending Algorithm, Scharf lays out complex and thought-provoking ideas on the mountains of information we generate.
The book touches on areas including our data's energy cost, its evolutionary behavior, and the concept of entropy.
Here are the 3 key insights from this Hack
- 1.Our data consumes masses of energy
- 2.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc volutpat, leo ut.
- 3.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc volutpat, leo ut.
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