The Power of Information
Infophilia and Prospection
September, 7, 2024 - Vol. 2, Issue 38
Welcome to Infophilia: The New Information Literacy for the Modern Age!
Infophilia, a positive psychology of information, is a weekly letter that celebrates our deep human connection to information. In an era dominated by Artificial Intelligence (AI), disinformation, and rapidly evolving knowledge ecosystems, mastering the new information literacy and understanding knowledge culture has never been more essential—including our digital lives—has never been more essential. Each week, I offer innovative, forward-thinking ways to navigate these challenges through in-depth essays. These essays explore key themes in understanding information, framed by an evolving interdisciplinary framework (a grand theory of information) and the lens of positive psychology.
The accompanying visual is often my own, shared to provide an immersive and unique experience of Infophilia, complementing the themes in the essays.
Once a month (or every other month) I’ll include supplementary sections such as Wealth Watch, Wellness Wisdom, Library News, and Your 5-Minute AI. These sections provide quick insights that complement the broader ideas explored in the essays, offering practical knowledge or summarizing the news on today’s most pressing topics. Check out the About page to learn more about the mission of Infophilia, and browse the Archive for previous essays. Thank you for joining me on this journey of both information and art.
Cite this as:
Coleman, Anita S. (2024, September 7). The Power of Information: Infophilia and Prospection. Infophilia, a positive psychology of information, 2 (38).
A thousand years ago, the view from the Empire State Building’s observatory deck would have looked quite different from what we see today. As I looked down from the dizzying height, I tried to visualize that natural landscape—thick forests of oak, hickory, and other hardwoods, the land dotted with small villages of the Lenape people (original inhabitants of Manhattan), surrounded by the natural topography of hills, valleys, wetlands, and streams, with the Hudson and East Rivers, and teeming with wildlife. But the skyscrapers and bustling streets of New York City predominate. Instead, I remembered Walt Whitman’s poem Mannahatta, on the significance of the name derived from the Lenape language, capturing the city’s character and identity, its essence.
I was asking for something specific and perfect for my city, Whereupon lo! upsprang the aboriginal name. Now I see what there is in a name, a word, liquid, sane, unruly, musical, self-sufficient, I see that the word of my city is that word from old, Because I see that word nested in nests of water-bays, superb Rich, hemm’d thick all around with sailships and steamships, an island sixteen miles long, solid-founded…
Whitman’s emphasis on the name’s historical roots and its resonance with the dynamic nature of the city, and my thoughts of New York as it once was led me to reflect on something deeper—the human ability to imagine, anticipate, and plan for the future. This imaginative process, known as prospection, is central to understanding ourselves and our place in the world.
There cannot be a positive psychology without prospection.
— Martin E.P. Seligman, The Hope Circuit: A Psychologist’s Journey from Helplessness to Optimism. New York: Public Affairs, 2018, p. 351.
Seligman’s statement that “There cannot be a positive psychology without prospection” highlights how the foundation of positive psychology—the science of happiness and subjective (and collective) well-being—is rooted in the ability to think about and plan for the future. Prospection allows us to envision positive outcomes, improve our decision-making, and find motivation, ultimately providing a clearer sense of identity, purpose, and direction.