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The fastest growing entity today is information. Information is expanding ten times faster than the growth of any other manufactured or natural product on this planet. According to a calculation Hal Varian, an economist at Google, and I made, world-wide information has been increasing at the rate of 66% per year for many decades. Compare that explosion to the rate of increase in even the most prolific manufactured stuff – like concrete, or paper -- which averages only 7% annually over decades.
- Mike Chelen on 03 Oct 08
  
  What Mr. Kelly should say is that the amount of information which is measured is growing quickly. It is not possible to know all of the information available, however it is still important that the amount which we successfully record, store, and access is increasing.
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">What Mr. Kelly should say is that the amount of information which is measured is growing quickly. It is not possible to know all of the information available, however it is still important that the amount which we successfully record, store, and access is increasing.</div>
  
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- Mike Chelen on 03 Oct 08
  
  Surely the number of web pages is increasing, but how well does the number of web pages measure information? Perhaps actual network bandwidth usage, or total filesizes, would be a better measure?
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Surely the number of web pages is increasing, but how well does the number of web pages measure information? Perhaps actual network bandwidth usage, or total filesizes, would be a better measure?</div>
  
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The number of scientific articles published each year has been increasing in a steady rise for more than 50 years. Over the last 150 years the number of patent applications has increased. By this rough metric, knowledge is growing exponentially.
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We see the expansion of information everywhere. Less visible, harder to track, but exploding the same is the expanision of knowledge. The number of scientific articles published each year has been increasing in a steady rise for more than 50 years. Over the last 150 years the number of patent applications has increased. By this rough metric, knowledge is growing exponentially.
- Mike Chelen on 03 Oct 08
  
  Journal articles may represent an accurate measure of research progress, but both the publishing process and the patent system have many influences besides sheer volume of content.
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Journal articles may represent an accurate measure of research progress, but both the publishing process and the patent system have many influences besides sheer volume of content.</div>
  
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Yet the paradox of science is that every answer breeds at least two new questions. More answers, more questions. Telescopes and microscopes expanded not only what we knew, but what we didn’t know. They allowed us to spy into our ignorance. New and better tools permit us new and better questions. All our knowledge about subatomic particles derived from the new questions generated after we invented an atom smasher.
- Mike Chelen on 03 Oct 08
  
  This is accurate, just as each question is answered, new questions appear. Here is not the downfall of the pursuit of knowledge, but its glory.
  
  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">This is accurate, just as each question is answered, new questions appear. Here is not the downfall of the pursuit of knowledge, but its glory.</div>
  
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Mike Chelen on 03 Oct 08

The fastest growing entity today is information. Information is expanding ten times faster than the growth of any other manufactured or natural product on this planet. According to a calculation Hal Varian, an economist at Google, and I made, world-wide information has been increasing at the rate of 66% per year for many decades. Compare that explosion to the rate of increase in even the most prolific manufactured stuff - like concrete, or paper -- which averages only 7% annually over decades.

<div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">The fastest growing entity today is information. Information is expanding ten times faster than the growth of any other manufactured or natural product on this planet. According to a calculation Hal Varian, an economist at Google, and I made, world-wide information has been increasing at the rate of 66% per year for many decades. Compare that explosion to the rate of increase in even the most prolific manufactured stuff - like concrete, or paper -- which averages only 7% annually over decades. </div>

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