Information Overload Sinks In
Today, humanity is under immense pressure to cope with the increasing information overload and the problems people encounter in transforming knowledge into skills. Ever since recorded information has existed, there has been a perception that humanity is overwhelmed by information overload. Concerns about the amount of information in many forms released and available that have been above and beyond people's capacity to handle and the time they can spare to interact actively with them have been voiced for centuries and have become even more pressing since the emergence of ubiquitous digital systems in the late twentieth century.
Information overload was first coined in 1964 by Dr. Bertram Gross in his book "Management of Organizations." Alvin Toffler emphasized its effects in his book "Future Shock," while Speier et al. say that it leads to a loss of the quality of decision-making. [1]
Information overload is a determining factor that negatively drives work environments, kills productivity, triggers a decline in creativity, and makes us gloomy. "Losses directly or indirectly from information overload are estimated at $650 billion worldwide yearly – equivalent to Switzerland's gross domestic product in 2015." [2]
A 2009 report says that we face 105,000 daily uploads, or 23 words per second, via mobile phones, the Internet, email, TV, radio, newspapers, books, and social media. Even if we don't read them all, these numbers reach the eye and ear. With the conflation of images, videos, games, etc., this figure comes to 34 GB daily. In 2023, these figures are much higher. [3]
During the Industrial Revolution, Karl Marx argued that people focused on the relationship between people and commodities in a commodity-obsessed society. In doing so, they ignored the underlying and healing social relationships that bound people together and allowed commodity production. He called this obsession "commodity fetishism"[4]. Today, information has created a similar mess, playing the same role that commodities played in the 20th century and before, and in a way, we are in "information fetishism." [5]
Six-Dimensional Vision.
Excessive reliance on information in its current form hatches a 6D (six-dimensional) vision of the future as (i) demassification, (ii) decentralization, (iii) denationalization, (iv) despatialization, (v) disintermediation, and (vi) disaggregation. Disproportionate overloading by information is associated with all these characteristics, and the destruction and rebuilding of the ecosystem are characterized by distrust, thus rising against authority. [6]
Blockchain technology and crypto -i.e., bitcoin, in which almost all dimensions of 6D are applied, are striking developments and approaches; thus, all are related to information overload and embedding trust in technologies by pulling it over from the central authority. Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym used by the unknown person or group who created Bitcoin and wrote its original whitepaper. Satoshi Nakamoto's identity is still unknown.
In exploring blockchain technology and bitcoin, one may encounter references indicating that the inventors drew inspiration from individual independence and self-sovereignty exemplified by John Galt, a fictional character in Ayn Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged.' [7] Consequently, parallels exist between the ideals of Bitcoin and those of John Galt in 'Atlas Shrugged.'
Furthermore, advancements in technology result in more complications than they resolve. [8] Technologies that address current problems will eventually give rise to new challenges and dilemmas in the future, necessitating the development of new solutions. Moreover, technological advancements signify a profound transformation of the intrinsic nature of existence while challenging the understanding of temporal progression. This era is designated as VUCA for "Volatility," "Uncertainty," "Complexity," and "Ambiguity."
The Impact of Data on Decision-Making
Data is the most basic level, the smallest grain of the part. Creating context and adding facts, details, and patterns transforms it into information.
When information is compiled to understand something better or virtually render something most efficiently in usable form, it evolves into knowledge. In final form, wisdom is a rich tapestry that rises on top of all, helping determine where, when, and why we use the information. (Figure 1)
Processing and organizing data curates information in usable patterns, making it functional in decision processes. The process is widely used to support data-driven decision-making, deal with uncertainty, and solve problems in many fields, including business, science, engineering, and education.
When we look at the transformation of information from data to knowledge, the trajectory of events, and the conjunction of its parts and humans, fascinating observations emerge. While this fact facilitates information consumption in many spots, it adds a new layer that makes it challenging to form knowledge and reinforce comprehension.
Dunning-Kruger Effect
David Dunning, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, has uncovered important information about the intricacies of human cognition, judgment, and decision-making in his research.
The Dunning-Kruger effect is a widely recognized collaborative academic research describing individuals' cognitive biases and process trajectories.
The graph in Figure 2 illustrates the process and its trajectories. The horizontal axis is the information axis, and the vertical axis is the confidence axis. When you don't know anything, your confidence level is shallow. But when you learn a little, the self-assured hubris rises rapidly compared to the beginning. Then, when you look at the information in close range, you realize there is more to it, and a loss of confidence repeats itself. Then, when you practice it over the years, you become an expert, and your confidence level steadily increases again. [10] Nonetheless, when the learning process remains in the "lower-order thinking skills (LOTS)" layer of Bloom's Taxonomy (we will talk about below), the learning is limited to the area of expertise, not transcended beyond it, as Benjamin Bloom [11] describes it.
In everyday life, individuals gain awareness of the most beneficial way to exist in their ecosystem by analyzing their environment and assessing their abilities against it. Therefore, the level of alignment between an individual's perception of their skills and their eventual performance constitutes the strategic and fundamental decision-making process. According to David Dunning, people tend to misjudge their ability to perform, and he calls this cognitive bias.
One of David Dunning's most cited works, his 1999 collaboration with NYU Stern School of Business professor Justin Kruger [12], comprises four chapters. The two psychologists asked participants to rate their humor, logical reasoning, and grammar abilities and then take a performance test. The results confirmed the Dunning-Kruger effect, a cognitive bias that helps partially explain people's misapprehension of their mental capacities, false outcomes, and problematic choices.
In today's digital age, cognitive biases are one of the many factors that interfere with the decision-making process. While technology can provide the necessary resources to label someone as an expert in a particular field, it can also mislead people into believing they have mastered something. Therefore, Dunning argues that technologies can influence the misplaced accuracy of the variance with this cognitive bias.
Bloom's Taxonomy
Another study that sheds light on the relationship between information and people is Bloom's Taxonomy, a classification of the different outcomes and skill levels that educators determine for their students.
The taxonomy was proposed in 1956 by Benjamin Bloom, an educational psychologist at the University of Chicago. The terminology has recently been updated to include a six-level of learning. (Figure 3) In addition, the vertical dimensions are divided into two classes: (a) lower-order thinking skills (LOTS) and (b) higher-order thinking skills (HOTS), while the six vertical levels' classifications assess learning, creativity development, and information consumption capacities.
Bloom's taxonomy is a classification system that describes and distinguishes different levels of human cognition—thinking, learning, and understanding.
Bloom's taxonomy was developed to provide a common language for educators to discuss and share their teaching and assessment methods. The specific learning outcomes of Bloom's taxonomy are most commonly used to assess learning at various cognitive levels.
Bloom's Taxonomy encompasses three domains of learning: cognitive, emotional, and psychomotor. Each domain possesses a hierarchy aligned with several educational tiers, wherein advanced learning degrees are contingent upon acquiring requisite skills and knowledge at preceding levels. Below are examples of power verbs corresponding to each level of Bloom's Taxonomy. [13]
The lower-order thinking skills
Remember Information: Identify, Recognize, Internalize
Understand: Summarize, Interpret, Classify
Apply to: Make part of the solution, Associate, Use
The higher-order thinking skills
Analyze: Create contrast, Create new perspective, Build new relationships,
Evaluate: Criticize, Judge, Reframe,
Create: Design, Change, Experiment, Develop
More Power Verbs for each classification are available from many sources. [14]
Personal Information Management
When consuming information, ways to avoid information overload, individually and socially, seem to lie in various coping strategies, such as filtering, avoiding, queuing, and settling for what satisfies. The design of more effective information systems, effective personal information management, and the promotion of digital and media literacy also have roles to play. The most pragmatic way to overcome information overload is to choose between taking selective and snap-free notes to consume information and curating them.
Managing information overload is about reviewing and storing information in meaningful ways so that you can easily retrieve and use it and releasing others when you catch what's essential. This method, which is increasingly used today, has many use cases and applications as a personal information management system and second brain tool.
Building a personal information management system to lessen the burden of information overload and devising a second brain sounds refreshing and relieving. What is a second brain? It is to create a system outside of us that can be used instead of our brain's short- and long-term memory that helps us collect pieces of meaningful information, establish virtual links between related ones, and access new information that was noticed serendipitously.
The Zettelkasten method
One of the original applications of the personal information management system is known as Zettelkasten. The Zettelkasten method was first used by a German sociologist, Niklas Luhmann, in the 1950s. Zettelkasten is a German word meaning 'note box' or 'card box.'
Luhmann used a physical drawer system (Kasten) to store his ever-growing collection of card indexes (Zettel). He allocated each drawer to a different topic containing cards. Luhmann had captured a single note or idea on each card. He linked the related notes on the cards using the numbering system that marks each note. (Figure 4) Zettelkasten was essential for Luhmann's productivity as a mechanical and physical method, having published over 50 books and hundreds of academic papers throughout his career. Luhmann did not credit his superior intelligence for his productivity - he credited it to his note-taking system.
Brief on Second Brain
Today, personal information management has gained a new dimension using methods and computer software based on Zettelkasten. [15] As a personal information management system, the Second Brain offers system features outside the brain that mimics how the brain works and aims to tackle its deficiencies. In general
To close the gaps in learning, remembering, and generating new ideas,
Processing, effective internalization, and storage of information,
To be recognized and brought back more quickly in times of need,
Linking notes and ideas and making thought patterns appear,
It allows new ideas to be easily discovered and sparks creativity (Serendipitous Creativity),
Display the relationship between the notes visually in a graphic view (Figure 5).
The Notion, Evernote, and Obsidian are at the forefront of known second-brain software; new ones are coming out almost daily. [16] Many actors play a leading role in developing second-brain methods. [17].
In Closing
To comprehend contemporary thinking regarding second-brain tools and information overload, it is essential to begin with Alvin Toffler's 1970 book Future Shock. Toffler stated, "Humanity's overwhelming disorientation appears to signal the untimely onset of the future, which may constitute the most significant affliction of tomorrow."
Futurists' fear that we should work hard to master our technological destiny may not be entirely unfounded or alarming. Nonetheless, we must recognize the importance of issues and take the appropriate measures in the diminishing adaptation processes and the sluggish flow of events to tackle the difficulties of information overload on our path to our destiny.
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References and Notes
[1] Cheri Speier, Joseph S. Valacich, Iris Vessey, First published: 07 June 2007 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5915.1999.tb01613.x
[2] Roetzel, P.G. Information overload in the information age: a review of the literature from business administration, business psychology, and related disciplines with a bibliometric approach and framework development. Bus Res 12, 479–522 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40685-018-0069-z
[3] The Human Brain is Loaded Daily with 34 GB of Information- https://www.tech21century.com/the-human-brain-is-loaded-daily-with-34-gb-of-information/
[4] In philosophy, fetishism primarily refers to the voluntary attitude and understanding that manifests itself in the religious and magical practices and objectification of man in the face of the force of nature.
[5] The Social Life of Information, John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid, Harvard Business School Publishing 2002
[6] The Social Life of Information, John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid, Harvard Business School Publishing 2002
[7] Objectivism Bitcoin & Who is John Galt vs. Satoshi Nakamoto- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgR7ozH6ntU
[8] The Social Life of Information, John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid, Harvard Business School Publishing 2002
[9] Oddur Bjarnason - https://oddur-bjarnason.org/the-data-information-knowledge-process/
[10] Unskilled And Unaware Of It: How Difficulties In Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead To Inflated Self-assessments. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12688660_Unskilled_and_Unaware_of_It_How_Difficulties_in_Recognizing_One's_Own_Incompetence_Lead_to_Inflated_Self-Assessments
[11] Benjamin Bloom was an educational psychologist at the University of Chicago and proposed the Bloom Taxonomy in 1956.
[12] The Dunning-Kruger Effect in Our Digital Domain https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/qmss/2020/07/10/the-dunning-kruger-effect-in-todays-digital-domain/
[13] Center for Teaching - https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy
[14] Bloom’s Taxonomy Verb Chart https://tips.uark.edu/blooms-taxonomy-verb-chart/
[15] Tiago Forte, "Building a Second Brain" www.buildingasecondbrain.com
[16] Some second-brain software: 1. Obsidian 2. Notion 3. Evernote 4. Taskade 5. Craft 6. Bear App 7. Roam research 8. Standard Notes 9. TiddlyWiki 10. Emacs Org Mode 11. Logseq 12. Dendron 13. QOwnNotes 14. RemNote 15. Google Keep 16. Notable 17. Vnote 18. CherryTree
[17] Known actors of the second brain concept are Dr. Niklas Luhmann – creator of "Zettelkasten" – who has written 58 books and hundreds of articles in 30 years. He died in 1998. - Tiago Forte – Creator of the methodology "Second Brain" - Nick Milo developed the LYT methodology - Andy Matuschak developed the evergreen methodology - Books - "How to Take Smart Notes" by Söne Ahrens, and "The Filing Cabinet - A Vertical History of Information" by Craig Robertson
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