The Model Thinker：Prologue，Introduction and Chapter 1

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1、PrologueTheCardCatalogueDidheappearasensibleyoungman;ayoungmanofinformation?JaneAusten’sEmmaInthefallof1981,Ienrolledasafreshman,major:undecided,attheUniversityofMichigan.Irememberwalkingintothegraduatelibrary,oneofthelargestintheworld,andbeingawestruckbythecardcat

2、alogueroom–rowsandrowsofwoodencabinetswithsmallfiledrawerscontainingcardslistingauthor,subject,andtitletoliterallymillionsofvolumes,journalarticles,pamphletsandportfolios.Overthenextfouryears,Ispenthoursshu✏ingthroughthosemanillacardsseekinginformation.Ispentmanymor

3、ewanderingthestacks,roamingfrombooktobook,subjecttosubject.Atthetime,IassumedthatthoseyearsinAnnArborwouldbemysoleopportunitytohaveaccesstosomuchinformation.Ianticipatedthatlikemostpeople,I’dsettleintoalifewhereanyquestionwhoseanswerwasn’tboundinsidethirtyWordBookE

4、ncyclopediavolumeswouldgounanswered.HowwrongIprovedtobe.We’renowawashininformation.Mostofwhat’sinthatlibraryplusawholelotmorenowbelongstotheworld.Contentonceboundupinhard78CONTENTScopywenowstoredi↵uselyinsilica.Withasimplequery,itflowsintinypacketsthroughtheveryairt

5、hatwebreatheintomobiledevices.So,too,informationaboutthehereandnow,aboutstockpricessportsscores,politicaleventsandculturalhappenings.Whatoncearrivedinblackandwhiteonthedoorstepnowsitsatourfingertips,accessibleonwhimordemand.Thesametechnologicaladvancesthatnearlydrow

6、nusininformationhavealsocon-tributedtoincreasingcomplexitybyspeedingadaptationandincreasingconnectedness..1Companiesthatusedtowaitformonthlystatementsnowtracksalesinrealtimeandre-spondaccordingly.I’vehearditsaidthatwhenyouputagallonofmilkinyourpushcartthatWal-Martp

7、honesthecow.Inflation,onceestimatedonlyquarterly,cannowbetrackedinstantaneouslyontheInternet.2Moreover,usingglobalpositioningsatellites(GPS)agreatdealofinformationcannowbeencodedbygeographiclocationallowingforfast,targetedresponsesandstrategicmaneuversbygovernments,

8、businesses,andsocialmovementsalike.Asforconnectedness,littleneedstobesaid.We’renowconnectedtooneanother,toourwork,andtoourinterestsatlevelsthatwo