The problem is NOT too much to read. The problem is "curation". I have a shameless plug to offer - I curate from hundreds of sources and search for something that enhances knowledge/satiates curiosity and of course, it is curated. I decided not to have a newsletter-they have a poor opening rate and settled from a Telegram based channel. I have also switched on the ability to post comments, and you can also react to the stories. I am not promising any quick fixes, and if the article is behind a paywall, there is a permanent pinned message on how to overcome it. I occasionally post recommended books (with PDF's or epubs) and attendant commentary. Join on Telegram or use your browser. Happy Reading!
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?
#72>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.…
Information, like fast food, is easy and cheap to produce today, mostly horrible for long-term health Worse, I fear most info increases our confidence in decisions while reducing critical thinking At this point, I'm very selective about my media diet. There are only a handful of sources I read weekly ( https://every.to/ , https://www.productlessons.xyz/ , https://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/); all my other free ti…
https://t.me/thecuriousloop
Just added the link to my Telegram channel and I hope you'd find something worthwhile there.
Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
#73Today I struggle much more with finding relevant information and having to sift through endless SEO crap and fake articles. Back in the days (early 2000s to early 2010s) I would have enjoyable information consumption and discussions with people freely, nowadays I have to filter through a lot of crap and have to be careful how I speak in order to have discussions.
Let me do that for you :-)
https://t.me/thecuriousloop
This one has the best write ups and I hope you find it worthwhile. You can also subscribe to it in Inoreader (which can fetch public Telegram channels).
Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
#74>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.
>Ideally a place where it is socially less acceptable or inconvenient to stare at a phone, but these are rare.
I would suggest a classroom. The teacher would consider staring at the phone as rude.
Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
#75Yes, I suffer dearly from it. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed, it causes cognitive paralysis and I just mindlessly browse HN, Twitter, Reddit etc. Or I just go on accumulating stuff . I append to my list of to-read books, to my to-read papers, to-check-out languages and frameworks, to-read articles and so on. With information overflow, I have become an information aggregator- I download dozens of podcast episodes, add…
I'm in the same boat. My current plan is to take a few weeks off and finish each one of my "to-X" lists before they become truly unmanageable.
Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
#76Yes, I suffer dearly from it. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed, it causes cognitive paralysis and I just mindlessly browse HN, Twitter, Reddit etc. Or I just go on accumulating stuff . I append to my list of to-read books, to my to-read papers, to-check-out languages and frameworks, to-read articles and so on. With information overflow, I have become an information aggregator- I download dozens of podcast episodes, add…
I'm in the same boat. My current plan is to take a few weeks off and finish each one of my "to-X" lists before they become truly unmanageable.
No dice there for me.
I have entire full-semester university courses in my list.
If working through them 5-7 each day, I can finish a full-semester course- with psets, midterms and assignments in 20-30 days.
Even if I take a few weeks off, I will only finish 20-30% of my to-finish-courses list.
Good luck to you.
Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
#77“A little learning is a dangerous thing. Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian Spring; There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again.” ― Alexander Pope, An Essay On Criticism That's a good one to keep in mind while sailing the seas of information. A little experience will help as well - for example, a video 'promising to teach you quantum physics in 15 minutes' is surely utter nonse…
Your post is very inspirational. Maybe, you could recommend something to read on deep expertise that is useful and motivational?
Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
#78At 50 I have realised that life is about balance. Read, walk, cook, go out with family/friends, work. I imagine too much reading or working are the biggest crimes from this list.
Re: Ask HN: Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of information?
#79I 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
I've been thinking that evolution might resolve this issue on its own in a few generations. Right now people who are naturally high-willpower have a huge advantage, since they can resist eating unhealthy/too much food and wasting time on useless addictions. I would assume that translates into having more kids, on average.
Although, there are some questions about this:
1. If technology progresses so rapidly that each generation faces totally different challenges, evolution might not be able to keep up with the changing demands.
2. Contraception might be decoupling material success from reproductive success.