Technology and human progress: the information revolution

The world has entered the Information Age. We can look forward to even more dramatic changes in the future than those we have witnessed in the past. These changes are challenging individuals, institutions, and nations. Even though information transmission, processing, and utilization has increased by orders of magnitude, humans are the beneficiaries of this information. Our ability to absorb and understand information has not increased by orders of magnitude. How we learn to cope with the wealth of information available to us will determine whether we ultimately benefit from the information revolution as individuals and as a nation. The future will require us to be adaptable, to continue to learn, and to continue to explore the frontiers of science, technology, and their application. Let us hope that the people of our shrinking planet Earth will find a common goal of individual and global survival, and will utilize technology for the benefits that it can bestow upon the human race.