Why some people don't care about information overload

A post by business writer Tom Davenport at a Harvard Business Review blog explains it all for us:

I gave a presentation this week on decision-making, and someone in the audience asked me if I thought information overload was an impediment to effective decision-making. "Information overload...yes, I remember that concept. But no one cares about it anymore," I replied. In fact, nobody ever did.

He offers a few shaky reasons for why information overload is not a problem, then concludes:

So the next time you hear someone talking or read someone writing about information overload, save your own attention and tune that person out. Nobody's ever going to do anything about this so-called problem, so don't overload your own brain by wrestling with the issue.

Link: Why we don't care about information overload.

Wow. It's the kind of inane, superficial article I'd expect from somebody trying to write with one eye on their blackberry.

For some intelligent material on the topic, I recommend the Information Overload Research Group and Nathan Zeldes's blog Challenge Information Overload.

Comments

[Nathan Zeldes]

Hey, appreciate the compliment, Kevin!

Nathan :-)

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