The information overload of the 16th century
I quite enjoyed this article, much more than I enjoyed the article it is responding to, though I thought both were food for thought: Why Abundance is Good.
It references the challenge of making the Internet into a more perfect medium than it is, of making it ideal for balancing its benefits with its costs. I think that may be the most exciting thing I've heard about the Internet... I'd be tempted to work on that.
It references the challenge of making the Internet into a more perfect medium than it is, of making it ideal for balancing its benefits with its costs. I think that may be the most exciting thing I've heard about the Internet... I'd be tempted to work on that.
posted by Soaring Gryphon | 11:28 PM
2 Comments:
The link between information overload and shallow thinking is an interesting one, and it's something I've thought about before (perhaps in shallow fashion). I'd be interested in taking a look at your better Internet once you get it developed :)
In Shirkey's article, which is mainly rational and thoughtful, the goal is not a new Internet, but a new way of approaching knowledge.
Let's face it: even the smartest of us are limited in what we can digest meaningfully. Long before the Internet, there was a need to discipline oneself in how information was absorbed. The idea of having a "major" in college is one response to an overabundance of information.
The "shallowness" descried in "Is Google Making Us Stoopid" is really nothing new. The increased availability of information makes us choose: do I go more deeply or more broadly? There is no pat answer. Either way, we will lose information because of our physical limitations. The wise man is he who decides correctly for the situation at hand.
8-)>
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