Intro: Who is suffering from info overload syndrome? Why? What are the symptoms?
We all are. It makes us dizzy, gets us confused, and forces us to shut down.
We deal with it by being very particular about what information we take in, when, and from whom. We back off. We get outside.
Text study:
1. R. Joshua said: If all seas were ink, and all reeds pens, heaven and earth scrolls, and all mankind scribes, they would not suffice to write down the Torah I learned, even though I abstracted [from my masters’ teaching] no more than a man would take when dipping the point of a painting stick in the paint tube.
(Shir haShirim Rabba 1:3; William G. Braude’s translation)
2. What was Rabbi Akiva like? A worker who goes out with his basket. He finds wheat, he puts it in; barley, he puts it in; spelt, he puts it in; beans, he puts it in; lentils, he puts it in. When he arrives home he sorts out the wheat by itself, barley by itself, spelt by itself, beans by themselves, lentils by themselves. So did Rabbi Akiva; he arranged the Torah rings by rings. (Avot de Rabbi Natan ch. 18)
3. "On another occasion it happened that a certain heathen came before Shammai and said to him, "Make me a proselyte, on the condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot."[1] Thereupon he chased him away with the builder's cubit that was in his hand.[2] When he came before Hillel, (he also asked Hillel to teach him the entire Torah while standing on one foot) Hillel replied, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: that is the whole Torah while the rest is commentary; go and learn it."[3]
(Talmud in tractate Shabbos 31a)
What do these texts have to say about information overload?
Text 1: There has always been more information out there than we are capable of taking in.
Text 2: Sorting. Being deliberate. Personal style - Akiva's way of organizing info may have come from his coming to Judaism later in life. There is value in the process of collection, holding info, and sorting.
Text 3: Summarizing, but also getting at the ikar. Immediacy.
(These texts have a flow - dealing with big ideas, categorizing them, getting at the essence, and back to dig deeper.)
Clay Shirky argues that we're not suffering from information overload, but filter failure.
What is the difference between info overload and filter failure? Do you agree with Shirky?
Information overload is part of the human condition. We need filters, and we get them from the beginning. "From the time we are born, there is no unmediated experience."
"Program or Be Programmed" - addresses issues of who is in control of our filters and the information we ultimately get.
Example of the Omnivore's Dilemma - I can eat anything, so how do I decide what to eat? Kashrut is Judaism's answer; a filter for making that decision.
Our filters are increasingly social - the online world is catching up with our habits/behaviors on-land. Google Plus is a perfect example.
Tachlis/Examples: Filtering good information
Social Bookmarking on Diigo with Marni
Text study:
1. R. Joshua said: If all seas were ink, and all reeds pens, heaven and earth scrolls, and all mankind scribes, they would not suffice to write down the Torah I learned, even though I abstracted [from my masters’ teaching] no more than a man would take when dipping the point of a painting stick in the paint tube.
(Shir haShirim Rabba 1:3; William G. Braude’s translation)
2. What was Rabbi Akiva like? A worker who goes out with his basket. He finds wheat, he puts it in; barley, he puts it in; spelt, he puts it in; beans, he puts it in; lentils, he puts it in. When he arrives home he sorts out the wheat by itself, barley by itself, spelt by itself, beans by themselves, lentils by themselves. So did Rabbi Akiva; he arranged the Torah rings by rings. (Avot de Rabbi Natan ch. 18)
3. "On another occasion it happened that a certain heathen came before Shammai and said to him, "Make me a proselyte, on the condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot."[1] Thereupon he chased him away with the builder's cubit that was in his hand.[2] When he came before Hillel, (he also asked Hillel to teach him the entire Torah while standing on one foot) Hillel replied, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: that is the whole Torah while the rest is commentary; go and learn it."[3]
(Talmud in tractate Shabbos 31a)
What do these texts have to say about information overload?
Text 1: There has always been more information out there than we are capable of taking in.
Text 2: Sorting. Being deliberate. Personal style - Akiva's way of organizing info may have come from his coming to Judaism later in life. There is value in the process of collection, holding info, and sorting.
Text 3: Summarizing, but also getting at the ikar. Immediacy.
(These texts have a flow - dealing with big ideas, categorizing them, getting at the essence, and back to dig deeper.)
Clay Shirky argues that we're not suffering from information overload, but filter failure.
What is the difference between info overload and filter failure? Do you agree with Shirky?
Information overload is part of the human condition. We need filters, and we get them from the beginning. "From the time we are born, there is no unmediated experience."
"Program or Be Programmed" - addresses issues of who is in control of our filters and the information we ultimately get.
Example of the Omnivore's Dilemma - I can eat anything, so how do I decide what to eat? Kashrut is Judaism's answer; a filter for making that decision.
Our filters are increasingly social - the online world is catching up with our habits/behaviors on-land. Google Plus is a perfect example.
Tachlis/Examples: Filtering good information
Social Bookmarking on Diigo with Marni
- Allows you to collect, store, organize, and share links
- Share with colleagues - create a group to store interesting information
- Bookmark links quickly and easily with browser plug-ins
- also allows for annotation
RSS Feeds with Arnie
- Bring content from interesting folks together in one place, organize it to your liking
- Skim headlines, read synopses, or dive into full articles
- Curate content for your networks
How else do we deal with information overload? What are the implications of info overload for our work, from our perspective and that of the people we work with?
Nicely summarized. Thanks for putting this together Miriam.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, thanks for coming and sharing. :)
ReplyDelete