Formation Of The Specialists Intellectual Culture In The Network Society

Abstract

In the network society, the problem of a future specialist intellectual culture formation is exacerbated by the constant increase in information flows. In this term, the authors consider ways of intellectual filters formation as a rational tool for information flow perception and processing. Irrelevant information hampers cognitive orientation in the flow of messages, leading to an inadequate evaluation of social relations. The authors carry out the search for an effective resource of counteracting information noise and network manipulation of individual consciousness on the basis of an interdisciplinary analysis of the technology of the individual attention management in the information field. The authors' research position is determined by the cognitive paradigm, according to which it is the forms of knowledge organization that play the basic role in specialist professional training. The authors examine practical application of the object summarization algorithm that would facilitate formation of textual information selection and systematization skill. A data transformation algorithm according to the method of documentary object analysis is realized as the universal tool for using in educational practice, implementing which one could develop the skill of information flows summarizing and filtering. In conclusion, authors emphasize the increasing need for development a cognitive ability of critical thinking representing an effective resource for individual orientation in the information field.

Keywords: Critical thinkingdocumentary object analysiseducational activitiesinformation noiseintellectual filters

Introduction

Education is urged to form the level of the individual’s awareness necessary for his social adaptation and successful self-realization. In general such level of awareness corresponds to the intellectual capital which exhibits through the individual’s ability to maintain his own social and professional competence at the certain level set by society (Klochkova et al., 2016). A new dimension of the education quality control analysis in modern practice emerges from the interrelation between such components as cognitive motivation, personal development and student satisfaction (Razinkina et al., 2018).

Process of coordinating society information field dynamics and person’s own mental activity, structurally including reasoning, understanding and estimation, relates with intellectual filters formation which function consists in a certain selection, limitation, structuring of information streams (Bylieva, Lobatyuk, & Rubtsova, 2018). The interactive and hyperactive communicative network capable to transform an information field and messages’ meaning puts basic mental structures of understanding at risk of destruction at levels of collective unconscious, practical and discursive consciousness. (Brooks & Longstreet, 2015; Evseeva et al., 2017; Fox & Moreland, 2015). In the conditions of growing information environments, widespread use of social networks and multimedia pedagogy, the young people thinking becomes being of mosaic type, what creates additional cognitive barriers in the future specialist's intellectual potential formation (Berezovskaya & Shipunova, 2015).

Classical (technical) definition of information noise as channel disturbance that makes the signal irrelevant was given by Shannon, 1963. In the social humanities, there are variable treatments given to this phenomenon. In cultural science, information noise is defined as information which is conditionally indifferent for an individual (Galkin & Popov, 2001). In sociology, it is accidental low-quality information. Communicative scientists define this phenomenon as such information redundancy in the communicative environment which causes functional failure of its systems (Yeyger, 2007). Despite the lack of terminological definiteness, it is possible to note that all interpretations of information noise reflect one common feature, namely that information noise is the disturbance originating from external factors and distorting the message, breaking its integrity, reducing its usefulness and possibility of recipient perception.

Irrelevant information prevents obtaining socially important messages for the person, complicates his orientation in information space. This, in turn, leads to discouragement for person’s orientation in the world around, breaking of social communications, increasing of consciousness manipulation level.

Two types of information noise can be indicated, these are deliberate and inadvertent ones. Disturbances influencing recipient’s perception of information without purposeful outside intervention, create inadvertent information noise. In case of deliberate information noise, so much information overload is created around the event that it becomes difficult for recipient to distinguish between true and false. Thus, the phenomenon of information noise promotes formation of new channels of network manipulation with individual consciousness.

For example, Swedish scientists Bard & Soderquist, having carried out a peculiar insight from the feudal past to the information future, showed that the main value of information influence consists not so much in information itself, as in access to its sorting and manipulation. Social control is maintained through imposing behavior and products consumption stereotypes. They marked following features of network society: tendency to a new class differentiation on account of access to information, and emergence of netocracy power through the hierarchy of relationships in modern social networks. The lower stage of the system is united into a network of unlimited consumption, of which anyone can become a member. At the top of the hierarchy, there are Netocrats keeping knowledge and a network of links that can be useful for creating a specific information field in a given network and consciousness manipulating (Bard & Soderquist, 2004).

Problem Statement

The problem of the information society formation and its various components evaluation is one of the most discussed topics in modern humanitarian science from the end of the 20th century onwards. In the 2010s, information revolution continues changing the world, offering to mankind some essentially new decisions and opportunities in many spheres. At the same time, revolutionary influence of information and communicative technologies on all aspects of social life provokes the danger of fundamental shift in ideas of space, time and social order, creates a threat to cognitive resources of individual action. The pragmatics of computer-mediated communication is updated (Herring et al., 2013). Information flows are emphasized to act transforming role in shaping social reality. The Internet is treated as a special type of space (Bylieva, 2016).

However, one should note a lack of interdisciplinary works which would harmoniously unite the achievements of various scientific branches and offer research methodology invariantly to the type of person’s activity handling modern information streams. There is still the lack in studies aimed at developing tools that promote an effective intellectual activity of the individual in the information society, and identification of the possibilities of this toolkit in the educational sphere. In the context of our research, the analysis of cognitive stability in digital culture is not without interest (Bruni, 2011). This proves the actuality of an educational practice focused on the cognitive activity, which is connected with information search, accumulation, analysis and optimum presentation. The focus of individual development and training tasks will involve the level of mental activity which researchers associate with informal logic and critical thinking (Paul, 1993). According to the coordinated statement of the American philosophical association and the group of experts, critical thinking is treated as purposeful, self-regulating system of judgments used in processes of interpretation, analysis, assessment and conclusions formulation, and also for the aims of explanation evidential, conceptual, methodological, contextual reasoning on which the system of judgments itself is founded (Facione & Facione, 2013).

Research Questions

The aspiration to impart added, verified, increased knowledge to future generations has been contributing to invention of new technologies for information preservation, processing and broadcast throughout history.

First information technologies have emerged at the pre-verbal stage of social development. Usage of durable carriers, such as rocks and other massive strong objects, became the most reliable technology for coded knowledge storage. However, having provided reliable broadcasting in time, they made information transfer at distance almost impossible; therefore "mobile" data carriers appeared (plates, parchment, and later - books).

Development of science, where traditionally technologies of the accumulated knowledge coding have come into use, resulted into coding systems universalization and, therefore, into a possibility of learning these systems. For training to be passed easier, its procedures have been formalized.

Formalization, and later systematization of information saved up by mankind, demonstrates that at a certain stage of social development the total volume of knowledge begins to exceed individual opportunities of a person for perception/processing/broadcast of information. Further improvement of information formalization and systematization processes leads to the fact that procedures of information coding/decoding eliminate from the user’s attention; so he has no need to know the mechanisms that calculating machine or computer operates, it’s enough to only learn a set of procedures of device handling. This facilitates person’s informational activity; but collective access to computer networks becomes one of the reasons for dynamic increase of available information volume.

At first sight, simplified access to information resources provides the person less psycho-physiological load, as demands less intellectual and physical effort. Nowadays, access to network resources requires only presence of quite available certain technical means. But alongside this, information noise pressure amplifies, creating new problems in knowledge broadcasting and perception.

Purpose of the Study

Operating constantly increasing information funds becomes a really difficult task. The trend appears to simplify the access to information resources. In literature, shift to content simplification, transition from strict scientific documents to popular articles, diaries, forums is also noted. On this background, the value of information becomes relative, that results into a serious problem of communicative semantic barriers emergence and information noise arising in a network.

Our purpose is:

• to identify the cognitive resources for intellectual filters formation,

• to determine the toolkit, which promotes increase of efficiency of the individual educational and intellectual activity, taking into account the information influence of the network.

Research Methods

This work uses the method of interdisciplinary synthesis; its origins can be found way back in Greek philosophy, in its aspiration to construct uniform science as encyclopedic knowledge about the world. Modern philosophy distinguishes three types of interdisciplinary interactions in synthesis of knowledge the. The first relation type is called ontological taxonomy; it is characterized by subject reduction. In this case, knowledge from more advanced scientific discipline is used in another discipline carrying out methodological function. The second relation type is methodological dependence; in this case, schemes and norms of scientific knowledge accepted in one discipline are reproduced in another one. The third relation type is scientific and practical mutual justification; in this case, aspects of knowledge from different scientific branches supplementing each other, practically and axiological prove subject specifics for each of the interacting sciences. In our work, we mostly lean on the third type of interdisciplinary interaction which assumes scientific and practical mutual justification of philosophy, psychology, sociology, and informatics.

An interdisciplinary methodology of our research is presented with informational paradigm. We proceed from the fact that information is a key backbone factor of social and individual development. This is convincingly proved by modern practice of public life - whether science, economy or culture.

In analysis of the intellectual potential formation, we rely on the cognitive paradigm that emphasizes the basic role of knowledge system formalization in the educational process, ensuring the translation of knowledge through its perception and perusal.

Findings

Conclusion

Increase of information noise in network and social space aggravates the problem of effective intellectual filters formation which would optimize information flows in educational practice. Research of cognitive resources for intellectual filters formation leads to a conclusion that ability of critical thinking which creates intellectual potential of self-control in the process of judgments systems assessment is the most important condition for coordinating information field dynamics and person's mental activity in agile environment of network society.

Experience in application of data transformation technology by the method of documentary object analysis application in educational process of humanitarian disciplines (philosophy and cultural science) have shown that the algorithm of object summarizing forces students to work with text information, carrying out its intellectual filtration. As a result of algorithm implementation, an ability of critical thinking develops that allows speaking about universality of this method as the future mechanism forming strong professional skills of any textual information analysis.

Growing importance of critical thinking as universal and highly effective tool of intellectual filtration of semantic information streams raises a question of revision of an education ideal which is by now defined with the sum of professional competences.

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