No real difference between a "Dark Age" where info is cloistered for the few and a blindingly "Light Age" where the signal is buried in noise of conflicting interests.
The beauty of this puzzle for most people can be solved with a modicum of info, simple maths and listening to their body. Treating indigestion, constipation and other irritants with magic pills only masks the symptoms of bigger problems, most of which can be cured by diet & physical activity. Of course, as always, YMMV.
Yes there is. People use can and do use networks of trust to navigate the latter. It's messy, but it works to an extent. In the former you have no such option.
As a species we're becoming more knowledgable at a staggering pace right now. If you think the non-academic world is not benefitting from having access to the Internet you are crazy.
I concur on the potential, quite staggering infos. However, the key word here is "can". It is very interesting to me to monitor progress of the young nerdlings I cross paths with regularly. There is hope, but there is also a shit-ton of distractions and general malaise. Where human nature + freedom of will are concerned, the difference is, again, "can". For better or worse the die is cast. To say nothing else, the digital renaissance makes for very interesting times.
The beauty of this puzzle for most people can be solved with a modicum of info, simple maths and listening to their body. Treating indigestion, constipation and other irritants with magic pills only masks the symptoms of bigger problems, most of which can be cured by diet & physical activity. Of course, as always, YMMV.