WHAT IF INFORMATION OVERLOAD DOES NOT EXIST?

The core assumption behind information overload is that the information we want is the same as the information we need or like. Therefore, we cannot with good reason cut back on the information we want, because it reflects stuff that is important to us. Hence, thanks to the web we are overloaded with needed information that we can’t help wanting. However, from the perspective of contemporary affective neuroscience, wanting and liking are NOT the same thing, and are governed by entirely different neural processes. Thus, what we want is different from what we need because wanting and liking represent distinctive neurological events. Therefore, the key underlying premise of information overload that everything we want is the same as everything we need is based on cognitive principles that have no basis in neural reality, and the concept of information overload must therefore be abandoned.

The linked article questions the concept of information overload by challenging this most elementary underlying assumption. Based on the work of the distinguished neuropsychologist Kent Berridge of the University of Michigan (who also vetted and endorsed it), it is simple, short, and uses a Boston Red Sox title run to make its very radical point. Hope you ‘like’ it or at the very least the Red Sox!

http://mezmer.blogspot.com/2012/02/searching-for-red-stockings-myth-of.html

Quiet time in the mind from endless distractions such as email and feeds is part of the answer, and time spent on minor things takes away from the major things.

Your solution, though not a 100% solution, sounds like it would be an improvement. It certainly is a move toward being more intentional and specific which I see as a positive thing.

I’ve wasted far too much time and energy not paying attention to my attention which can get scattered too easily- but it’s of my own doing.

Gradually, I’m learning to separate myself from the info overload “noise”, and then focus on one thing for awhile. This alone can quite literally double or triple results- and it feels quieter and more focused.

Thanks Nicolas

I’ve been trying to get my colleagues to acknowledge that attacking our information overload problem will improve our overall knowledge sharing collaboration efforts and also contribute to our bottom line. But some people here just don’t understand the extent of the problem.

I just read about information overload awarenesss day and I’ve signed up our company as a participant and designated site – I hope this will get my point across to my colleagues and help them understand what we can do to improve our overall position relative to information overload. For others in my position (and I’m sure there are many of you) I encourage you to do the same, Information is available at http://www.informationoverloadday.com