Monday, October 24, 2005

Information Overload

From www.elearningpost.com, an insight belonging strictly to our information-soaked culture. Until quite recently, it would have been quite difficult to have too much information on a given subject just because of the effort involved getting it. Today, it's important to edit input--even if it's just for the amount of time it takes to digest the information and form ideas and opinions on it. Critical thinking can happen in input mode, but most often is richer when on the other side of it.

Gerry McGovern writes about the dangers of having too much information:

Human beings are much better at dealing with scarcity than with glut. This is particularly true when it comes to information. It has long been accepted wisdom that you can’t have too much information. You can… Your future career hinges on your ability to plan ahead. Resist becoming a news junkie. Resist churning out emails and web pages. Sit back and think hard. In an age of information overload, what you don’t read—what you don’t write—is just as important as what you do.