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Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?

#61

Post by Clubber »

>When you finally pick something up, the amount of material about any given topic, unconstrained by the volume of paper, seems impossible to get through in a single lifetime.

So when I usually want to learn something, I first have something in mind I want to build. I pick a tutorial and give it 5 minutes and decide if it's useful enough to continue. Once I complete a tutorial, I start the building process. Once I'm building, the internet becomes a reference manual, which it is much better at.

I'm not overly interested in social media. I gave most of it up after the Snowden revelations around 2013-2014. As far as news, I take breaks when not much is going on and I notice it's overly manipulative. I generally stay away from opinion pieces and when the news article starts going into opinion after the first few paragraphs, I stop reading. Hope this helps.

Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?

#62

Post by scoutt »

johnny_castaway wrote: post #55
rg111 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ok, but the problem is, _which_ book? I have solved this particular problem but have myriads of others. (See my main comment on this thread.) First, when you are looking for a book in a particular topic, search Kagi/You.com, and sneak into 4/5 lists quickly. Some books will appear in almost all lists. Take a note. Second, append reddit to search term and look into 3/4 threads. Take a note of highly upvoted or "+1"d…

This is a perfectly good advice. But my point is, note just how many separate bits of information you're looking at to make the decision. 4 threads on Reddit, 4 threads on HN, and you're already in the hundreds of different opinions! All of them coming from people you don't know, with different background, different learning style, etc. Compare to going to a book store with ZERO external information, and picking the…

But the problem is not the book itself. It's what you are looking for.

If you are just starting into any given topic, then you just need a good book, not the perfect book. And the advice parent gave you I think is more than enough for that. In any case, after you read the book, you can always purchase another one.

I have a friend that does this same thing. If we decide to learn how to play tennis, then he takes a month, does extensive research and purchases the most expensive and professional tennis racket around. Then when we get there, I use the racket that the tennis court lends you if you don't have any, and then I proceed to kick his ass!*

The same applies to my field (embedded/electronics). There are people that goes around in circles for months doing research for the perfect soldering station or oscilloscope (to start learning). Just purchase a decent one and move on!

Your abilities (in this case learning/knowledge) don't always come from the things you have or purchase. Whatever you use, it has to be just good enough for the task.

*PS: I don't mean you need or want to spend a lot of money.

Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?

#63

Post by seanw444 »

Isamu wrote: post #26

Long before the Internet I spent a lot of time in libraries and bookstores, and it was difficult back then to find much beyond basic information about almost anything unless it was somewhat mainstream. When you did find something unusual or highly detailed, it was cause for celebration. So no, I don’t feel overwhelmed. It’s a welcome feeling that I can get better answers than ever.

For me lately, the wealth of information on various firearms is immensely useful. Other than having someone in your personal circle, or going somewhere with a concentration of people who know what they're talking about and bothering them, there wasn't detailed information that was easily accessible on the topic. Sure, books existed. But you can only fit so many diagrams in a book.

Now, with web articles, and YouTube, it's so much easier to fully understand what you're operating, and how to maintain it.

Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?

#64

Post by Dracophoenix »

scoutt wrote: post #62
johnny_castaway wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a perfectly good advice. But my point is, note just how many separate bits of information you're looking at to make the decision. 4 threads on Reddit, 4 threads on HN, and you're already in the hundreds of different opinions! All of them coming from people you don't know, with different background, different learning style, etc. Compare to going to a book store with ZERO external information, and picking the…

But the problem is not the book itself. It's what you are looking for. If you are just starting into any given topic, then you just need a good book, not the perfect book. And the advice parent gave you I think is more than enough for that. In any case, after you read the book, you can always purchase another one. I have a friend that does this same thing. If we decide to learn how to play tennis, then he takes a mon…

> There are people that goes around in circles for months doing research for the perfect soldering station or oscilloscope

Guilty as charged. In my case, I don't so much as lust after the perfect machine (anymore) as I want to make sure I'm buying a durable, well-priced product that is sufficient for future tasks. There are many dimensions to consider in a purchase so as not to buy twice.

Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?

#65

Post by disadvantage »

Yes I sometimes feel overwhelmed. That's the natural reaction to information overload. Analysis paralysis as you say. On one hand it's easy to fall victim, but on the other it's also easy to leverage the shit out of all that information and build something magical. The artists of olde would be jealous of our modern Internet.

Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?

#66

Post by javajosh »

johnny_castaway wrote: post #29
javajosh wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>torture It's not torture though, its a fight. Your mind is lying to you. Right now, you're not in control of your attention, and your mind doesn't want to give up that control. It's a mutiny! And you'll enjoy being the captain! >Ok, but the problem is, _which_ book? It seems you're a beginner programmer; you could do worse than "Eloquent JavaScript": https://www.alibris.com/booksearch?mtype=B&keyword=eloquent+... Th…

> It's not torture though, its a fight. Either way, it's a struggle! Btw. I've been toying with meditation and mindfulness on and off for a few years now. It's definitely hard work. So far I haven't succeeded in sticking to it for more than a few days at a time. > It seems you're a beginner programmer; you could do worse than "Eloquent JavaScript": Oh, sorry for not expressing my thoughts clearly enough. I'm a senior…

Well, you have your advice. You can either take it, or not. But you need to choose and stop thinking about it. Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?

#67

Post by oxplot »

Back when most of the population didn't have access to books, you'd only have to make a choice if you wanted to learn from your dad or your mum or some other relative. Once libraries became a thing, now you had to choose from dozens, then hundreds of different books on the same topic and across all that would interest you. Was that overwhelming? Yes, most certainly if you didn't have the skills to pick one book and go with it.

There is nothing special this time around with the Internet other than the number of choices being orders of magnitude higher. And there are tools orders of magnitude more capable to sift through them (provided you have the skills to use those tools effectively).

I used to go down rabbit holes and get overwhelmed but have since learnt not to and instead keep focus.

Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?

#68

Post by DeathArrow »

johnny_castaway wrote: post #12
javajosh wrote: post #3

>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.…

> Old fashioned discipline starts in the mind. You must be ruthless with yourself, and make a determination Well, I think we're kind of in agreement here. I'd now need to essentially torture myself to do something that used to be a fun hobby, and required zero effort. > I'm reading this book Ok, but the problem is, _which_ book? Let's say you search for a JavaScript book on Amazon. It seems to yield more results than…

The problem is that it's hard for you to take decisions. You should try to decide faster. Even if the decision isn't the best, chances are it isn't the worst either. Doing something is much better than not doing anything.

>Let's say you search for a JavaScript book on Amazon. It seems to yield more results than all the books they had in my local computer bookstore! Pick one at random? But what if it has low reviews? Pick one with the highest rating? But maybe it was published 2 years ago, so maybe it's already outdated?

As a beginner I would pick the highest rated amongst the newer ones.

>Anyway, I saw on HN that everyone is using Rust now, so perhaps instead I should read a book about that? That's the analysis paralysis I mentioned.

I would ask myself why I want to learn a programming language. What I want to accomplish with it. And see if Javascript is more suitable or Rust is more suitable.

Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?

#69

Post by johnny_castaway »

rg111 wrote: post #60
johnny_castaway wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a perfectly good advice. But my point is, note just how many separate bits of information you're looking at to make the decision. 4 threads on Reddit, 4 threads on HN, and you're already in the hundreds of different opinions! All of them coming from people you don't know, with different background, different learning style, etc. Compare to going to a book store with ZERO external information, and picking the…

> and you're already in the hundreds of different opinions! No, you aren’t. Beause there are overlaps. (Seen Venn diagrams, btw?) > with ZERO external information This is a very bad advice. When you don't read those threads or blogs, you are not taking advantage of accumulated human knowledge over the years. And this approach will more likely to lead to poor choice of books. ____ One method I forgot to mention- I als…

> No, you aren’t. Beause there are overlaps. (Seen Venn diagrams, btw?)

Sorry, I meant different as in distinct, coming from different people.

> When you don't read those threads or blogs, you are not taking advantage of accumulated human knowledge over the years.

I agree, that's why I keep reading them. But more often than not, I feel like I end up with more questions and uncertainty than I started with.

> And this approach will more likely to lead to poor choice of books.

I don't think it's so obvious. Maybe that "average" book that matched your particular taste, would actually be more useful than the "perfect" one, which felt mundane? Simply because the first one would be more engaging, and you'd have higher chance of finishing it. But if you had read the reviews beforehand, you'd end up feeling bad both about the one you liked, and about the one that others recommended, and eventually wouldn't read either.

> One method I forgot to mention- I also look at reputations of publishers/series. If a book is coming out of Green Tea Press, Pragmatic Bookshelf, or Manning, I will tend to favor them more.

Agreed on this one!

Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?

#70

Post by ss48 »

I agree with this sentiment. The biggest problem I have is that search engines are incentivizing people to write content with search engines in mind, which means proportionately fewer books and complete explorations of a topic by content creators. Even on Amazon, many Kindle Books turn out to be repackaged internet articles, oftentimes sold as series. Any disagreement gets blown out-of-proportion because that's what search engines like and the bigger picture is oftentimes lost.
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