ABSTRACT
Cornelia found herself summoned to the hastily called Fifth White House Conference on Information designed to deal with the crisis. Preparing to address the delegates, she found herself recalling the sentence she had selected as the introduction to her inaugural address: “Total access to information has liberated our minds.” The system transferred Cornelia to the ill-fated world of Sunrise Bread, as well as to a variety of dogs named Sun, complete tables of sunrises, and other astronomical data about the sun. The history of her purchases of a loaf of Sunrise Bread, the financial status of the company, its sales record, and a vast array of other information overwhelmed her. Americans found themselves flooded with information at every turn. They were unable, or unwilling, to make simple decisions, or to pursue simple pleasures, because the amerinfosystem insisted on demonstrating the most minute interrelationships of information.
