An Overload of Information
THE 20th century has witnessed an unprecedented overload of information. Whether by printed material, radio or television coverage, the Internet, or some other means, the world is saturated with information. David Shenk writes in his book Data Smog—Surviving the Information Glut: “Information overload has emerged as a genuine threat. . . . We now face the prospect of information obesity.”
Consider a well-known newspaper as just one example. It is said that a usual weekday edition of The New York Times contains more information than the average person would have come across in his entire lifetime back in 17th-century England. But in addition to the daily newspaper, magazines and books of every description on a multitude of subjects add to the avalanche of information being produced. Books are published by the tens of thousands each year. And since scientific information doubles every six years, it is not surprising that worldwide, technical journals alone number over 100,000. And the Internet makes vast libraries of information available to computer users.
What of magazines? Business journals, women’s magazines, teen magazines, sports and entertainment magazines—indeed, magazines on almost every subject and human interest—have inundated the world, all screaming for our attention. What about the role of the advertising man—the “trumpeter of nothingness,” as he has been well described? In his book Information Anxiety, author Richard S. Wurman observes: “Advertising agencies have declared war on our senses with a barrage of ads that demand to be looked at, heard, sniffed, and touched.” They insist that you need the latest product, the latest upgrade, in order to “keep up with the Joneses.”
Australian psychologist and social researcher Dr. Hugh MacKay said that ‘the world is being overwhelmed by information and people are being invited to get into the fast lane on the information superhighway.’ The problem, as Dr. MacKay sees it, is that the explosion of news and current affairs programming on radio and television, along with the current dramatic explosion of computer-based information networks, has resulted in a world where many respond to media information that is really often only a partial representation of the facts and events, not the full story.
What Is Information?
The Latin root word informare carries the thought of forming matter, much as a potter forms clay. Hence, some definitions of “inform” give the meaning “to mold the mind” or “to shape or instruct the mind.” Most readers will clearly remember the time, not so long ago, when information was simply a list of facts or data telling us details such as who, where, what, when, or how. There was no special language or vocabulary for information. All we had to do was ask for it or look it up for ourselves.
But along came the 1990’s, and the world has been given so many new information-related words that these alone can cause confusion. While some of these words or expressions are relatively simple and comprehensible, such as “infomania,” “technophilia,” and “information age,” others can cause real problems. Today the world is being swept by infomania—the belief that the one who possesses the most information has an advantage over others less able to access it and that information is, no longer a means to an end, but an end in itself.
This mania is fed by a deluge of telecommunication systems, such as the fax machine, the mobile telephone, and the personal computer, considered by some to be the symbol and mascot of the information age. It is true that the convenience, speed, and power of computers have opened up access to information as never before—so much so that Nicholas Negroponte, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says: “Computing is not about computers anymore. It is about living.” As a result, information and the technologies that deliver it have come to be valued excessively, in some cases revered, with a huge cult-following in all parts of the earth. Television news and current affairs programs are given almost gospel status, while oceans of trivia are poured out in TV talk shows and swallowed by an often uncritical and gullible public.
It is because the information age has changed the way we live and work that many people today suffer from “information anxiety” in one form or another. What exactly is information anxiety? How can you tell if you are affected? Is there anything that you can do about it?
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