Information Overload

In 1962, urban planner Richard Meier speculated that the amount of information bombarding modern city dwellers would lead to "problems of widespread saturation in communications flow...within the next half century." His phrase information overload succinctly expresses the concept.

Information comes at us in so many different ways these days. Instead of three broadcast televisions networks there are now hundreds of channels available through cable and satellite providers--not to mention the viewing choices available via the internet. Not only is there voice mail but e-mail, text messaging, and instant messaging too. And if you have several social networking accounts with such sites as MySpace, LinkedIn, or Second Life, you have even more ways for someone to "reach out and touch" you 24/7.

One of my favorite columnists, Paul McFedries, writes about the many aspects of information fatigue syndrome (IFS) in his article Tired vs. Wired. (IEEE Spectrum, August 2007). He describes IFS as "the weariness and stress that result from having to deal with excessive amounts of information." Its many forms range from e-mail fatigue to PIN-code overload.

But McFedries notes that not all humans succumb to fatigue. Indeed informavores crave data and positively thrive on info glut. These infohoarders are the digital pack rats of our age. For them, terabyte hard drives are a necessity.

Barely forty-six years after Meier made his prediction many of us have yet to come to terms with information overload. For myself, I plan to make liberal use of the delete key to preserve my hard drive space as well as my sanity. But first I need a nap.