All means of communication that enable us to spread knowledge enhance our collective intelligence, and none perhaps more than the latest round of online maps. We’re seeing maps as a means to bring together details of evolving crisis details in new ways, with messages, photos and videos amassing to give a clearer picture of the situation as it evolves. With these dynamic maps, we create a dialogue and can tell stories about events, allowing those that are remote to the event feel as if they are involved.
The new digital tools that allow for analysis and collective reasoning about unfolding events go one step further than traditional media by presenting information that can be parsed and explored to help draw our own understanding and conclusions. By filtering and signaling our own understanding, we add to the intelligence of the whole. The ability of maps to present unfolding realities is perhaps the best use of this technology, and it is certainly gaining ground and worldwide attention.
