Moving from the Cold War into the digital age, where Wolsey’s phrase learning against learning perfectly describes our “post-truth” reality.

Table of Contents

Learning Against Learning, Part V: The Digital Age of Overwhelm

Introduction

If the Cold War institutionalized learning against learning as state doctrine, the digital age universalized it. The rise of the internet, social media, and algorithmic feeds created an unlimited flood of information. No longer curated by governments or media elites alone, knowledge multiplied at a scale far beyond human comprehension.

But the effect is the same as Wolsey foresaw: contradiction, overload, and chaos. In this environment, truth itself becomes unstable. Out of the confusion, new authorities emerge, promising to impose order on the chaos.

The Infinite Flood

The digital age is defined by overproduction of information.

Web Expansion: Billions of web pages, forums, and blogs, each presenting claims and counterclaims.
Social Media: Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok amplify voices instantly, spreading both truth and falsehood virally.
24/7 News Cycle: Cable news and online outlets compete to publish first, sacrificing verification for speed.
User-Generated Content: Anyone with a phone becomes a broadcaster, further multiplying perspectives.

The scale dwarfs anything in Wolsey’s day or even the Cold War. Instead of too many books or pamphlets, there are now oceans of data, growing exponentially.

Contradiction as the Default Condition

In this digital environment, learning against learning is not occasional but permanent.

Every fact is instantly met with counter-facts, fact-checks, and counter-fact-checks.
Every breaking news story generates dozens of competing narratives within minutes.
Algorithmic feeds personalize reality itself, so two people may inhabit entirely different “truth-worlds.”

The result is a post-truth condition: the sense that there is no objective truth, only competing claims.

Disinformation as Strategy

Just as the Soviets weaponized disinformation in the Cold War, modern actors—from states to corporations to troll farms—deliberately exploit the digital flood.

Flooding the Zone: Instead of hiding damaging truths, adversaries bury them under an avalanche of noise.
Astroturfing: Fake grassroots movements and bots amplify certain narratives, drowning out organic discourse.
Deepfakes & Synthetic Content: AI-generated media now blurs the line between authentic and fabricated, multiplying doubt.

This is not censorship; it is the deliberate chaotification of knowledge.

Cognitive Paralysis and Public Exhaustion

The effect is the same Wolsey feared: intellectual fatigue.

Analysis Paralysis: With infinite contradictory sources, people struggle to evaluate credibility.
Outrage Cycles: Social feeds bombard users with sensational claims, fueling emotional reactions rather than reasoned analysis.
Retreat into Tribes: Overwhelmed, people gravitate toward simplified, comforting narratives provided by partisan communities.
Apathy: Many surrender altogether, disengaging from news and politics.

The flood of learning becomes its own form of silencing.

Ordo ab Chao in the Digital Age

Into this chaos step new arbiters of truth.

Fact-Checking Institutions: Governments, NGOs, and corporations present themselves as the final word on accuracy.
Algorithmic Gatekeepers: Tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Twitter curate feeds, promoting some voices while suppressing others.
Trusted News Sources: Legacy media rebrands itself as the anchor of reality amid “fake news.”

From a conspiratorial perspective, this is ordo ab chao perfected:

Overwhelm the public with an endless flood.
Confuse through contradictions.
Exhaust critical faculties.
Control by centralizing trust in “approved” gatekeepers.

Conclusion

The digital age represents the ultimate form of Wolsey’s warning. What began with the printing press has reached its peak: learning itself has become self-cancelling. The internet ensures that every truth is met with rival truths until knowledge collapses into noise.

Yet, far from being a failure, this chaos serves a function. Out of the flood emerge new structures of control—algorithmic curators, institutional fact-checkers, and centralized “truth authorities.”

The cycle repeats, more intensely than ever:

Multiply knowledge.
Contradict until nothing is stable.
Exhaust the seeker.
Impose order—ordo ab chao.

In this sense, the digital age does not solve Wolsey’s problem. It perfects it.

Sources

ORDO AI CHAO – Essence of AI – Learning Against Learning, Info War

ORDO AI CHAO 5 – Essence of AI – Digitalia Overwhelmia