sometimes, but I've learned to triage my attention.
Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
31–40 of 79 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
#32I always liked this quote:
For 50 million years our biggest problems were too few calories, too little information. For about 50 years our biggest problem has been too many calories, too much information. We have to adjust, and I believe we will really fast. I also believe it will be wicked ugly while we’re adjusting.“ — Penn Jillette
Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
#33Yes, I felt/feel that way.
> you could say, just turn off the Internet and buy a book
Yup. I could and I would say this. Because this works at least for me. Whenever I started back the habit of reading books (esp. paper books) it has worked just like this, like a charm. I stopped looking for my phone etc. Starting back on travelling and sports also help.
I (guess) am mostly full of doing other things that I don’t need Internet to fruitlessly try to fill the empty parts because there isn’t or less empty parts - free time, need for gratification, need to tire my body and brain, get excited/sad etc etc.
> but can you really pretend it doesn't exist?
Why would I want to do that? It exists and that’s okay. In fact it’s helpful for many and often for me as well.
> And how long can you stick to it?
For 7 months last time. Then I got infected by COVID and had to lie on the bed for quite sometime and phone slipped back in the bedroom (use case was rain sounds - helps/helped me sleep; and funny videos just to keep the mood afloat). Gotta get rid of it again.
Imho I don’t think there’s too much of Internet out there. It’s about how frequently and what all you try to keep accessing.
This is a very simple observation I’ve had - anybody who has got to do things is successfully able to use the Internet to get those things done by using it bare minimally or give up and get it done elsewhere - ie in the physical space, whatever that’s called - real world(?). In fact those people don’t even need books and travel to distract them away from this distraction.
Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
#34I wrote a chapter about this in my upcoming book. I'll spare the details and go into the tips. I'm going to share it here because this question is one I've tried to answer over the last few years.
=== How To Think With Information Overload ===
Here's my five-to-thrive idea for learning about something without information overload. You can also do this with vetted internet articles too, but be picky!
1. Start with the most popular & best selling book on the topic.
2. Next, a popular, but slightly more technical book on the topic.
3. Third, a semi-technical book that builds on the ideas of the first two books.
4. Follow it up with a hard book that brings in problems & opinions from experts.
5. Last, a book that talks about the future of the topic.
...
While there are many different mediums in which you can get your information, I personally prefer books due to the amount of time that goes into them. The idea that you can absorb years of somebody’s life work in a few hours might just be the greatest gift we’ve been given.
=== Low Information Diet ===
As Michael Pollan says about plant-based foods: “If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.” I needed to supplement my content consumption with information straight from the source, not manufactured in a plant by online personalities or agencies.
...
I had to train myself to stop clicking on clickbait by asking a question first. “Will I change anything about my life if I knew the answer to this question?”. The answer surely was no every single time, and I started to click less.
...
Your actions are a consequence of your thoughts. Your thoughts are a consequence of what you consume. And what you consume is largely a consequence of how you filter and refine your information diet. If you choose better inputs, you’ll get better outputs.
===
Some other things to be careful of is "pluralistic ignorance" and "sensory deprivation" when it comes to only getting your information from a screen. The internet, TV, and computers are beautiful, but also can cause these feelings faster than traditional ways of getting information. I personally opt for less screen time and more ways to learn from others and nature. That keeps the baddies like analysis paralysis, FOMO, and anxiety at bay. It also makes life much more serendipitous and organic.
Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
#35>Does anyone else feel like this? I have, and I called it "info gorging", and I would occasionally indulge in it. But the problem is that you don't fully integrate what you've seen with what you know or believe. At best, you've accumulated a set of superficial ideas to be fleshed out later. At worst, you've given yourself a feeling of preemptive failure, looking at all the things you could do, and yet not doing them.…
Sometimes it helps to decide on one book and go and read it in a public space like a park, library or museum. That can reduce the required discipline somewhat. Ideally a place where it is socially less acceptable or inconvenient to stare at a phone, but these are rare. Also taking notes can help.
I do this with eBooks carried on a Nook sometimes. It's a great deal more relaxing than anything I might do on my phone, and I feel like I ingest the information or entertainment supplied by a good book much more easily reading in a park or coffee shop than many other places.
Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
#36I like to amass books and grep them later when I want to know something. Embrace the deluge!
Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
#37>Does anyone else feel like this? I have, and I called it "info gorging", and I would occasionally indulge in it. But the problem is that you don't fully integrate what you've seen with what you know or believe. At best, you've accumulated a set of superficial ideas to be fleshed out later. At worst, you've given yourself a feeling of preemptive failure, looking at all the things you could do, and yet not doing them.…
Sometimes it helps to decide on one book and go and read it in a public space like a park, library or museum. That can reduce the required discipline somewhat. Ideally a place where it is socially less acceptable or inconvenient to stare at a phone, but these are rare. Also taking notes can help.
I second the library location. Honestly, it's cliché but there are generations growing up without using a library.
I hadn't been to one from 2003 - 2016. But when I walked in I was stunned by:
- obviously quiet/peace. I mean, it's a library! :-) But compared to the library even the footpath is busy with people talking on their phones/earpods now. A dedicated space for quiet was unexpectedly nice.
- lack of "guard" required. No ads/incentive programs/paying-subscriptions/keeping-up-with-Jones-competition. It took me a while to realise that my constant "what do you get from this!?" suspicions could take a back seat. I could relax a bit more, like hanging out with a good friend you can trust.
It is simply a place you can walk into and exist, knowing that you deserve to be here as much as anyone else.
Plus it might have that book you want to read.
Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
#38> In the pre-Internet era, when you were curious about tech X, you'd walk to a store, skim through a bunch of books, pick the one you liked the most, and take it home. The whole process of searching took less than an hour, and then you were committed, because back at home, it was the only material about X you had physically available
True, but those materials were often of questionable quality.
I remember trying to learn C programming long time ago from an old book I found in my father's bookcase, and I also remember being completely confused by it. I recently found it again and skimmed through it - the explanations were terrible, the code was bug ridden and horribly outdated - the imports were everywhere, even though the code never used any code from it.
> These days, you type X into Google, and you get hit with an avalanche of tutorials, ebooks, video series, paid courses, online lectures, all available constantly and immediately
I find this a much better alternative - I usually pick a few ebooks that look nice, then start reading the first to see how it goes. If I find it tedious after a short while, I try another, and repeat until learned.
Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ultimately, time is finite, attention is rivalrous, and information is not infinitely actionable. ... added to https://github.com/globalcitizen/taoup
Incidentally reflecting one of the better mechanisms for information filtering. Party A states some claim / makes an observation. Party B curates that as relevant. This isn't always viable, and can of course be gamed or subject to low-quality curation. But it at least disintermediates interests. The Internet Archive uses a similar mechanism in choosing which YouTube content to archive. It monitors Twitter for YouTube…
Sure. Teaching and learning through social means was one of the great apes' big achievements. It's why we're dominant. Thus, today I believe it's scientifically non-contentious to view humanity as a single, evolving, temperospatial hive mind accelerating with compounding killer apps of language, literacy, and information systems.
Incidentally, try the recent French computer game Ancestors, it's very well executed on this very subject.
Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
#40I'm an information addict. To the point where it's detrimental to my life.