How Much Information Can We Retain?

 

Starting to realize that I am reaching information overload. Its a fine line because I love to research and just "know" what's going on. Not just about my work, but my interests, travel, finances, passions, and of course there's always the enjoyment of simply being entertained.

Tonight after a couple [few] months of pile up (literally), I decided to organize my back-reading stock of magazines. See photo. At current count I subscribe to 48 magazines, 10 of which are weekly's. I realized after organizing them into piles that I am at a minimum 2 months behind on every publication. This means in most cases I am still reading about holiday shopping in the issue I am on.

This little project got me thinking...how much information can one person retain? I mean if I take all these magazines and then add the RSS feeds, blogs, websites, emails, etc, I shutter to think how many things I am requiring my brain to wrap around. I've always had a propensity for remembering things and a quest to know everything, but I think my current state borders on information addiction. Anyone else suffering from similar?

Well, I better get going on these mags, 48 mags x 3 months = 144 issues to burn through on their way to the landfill (errr recycler).

BL

(a treo post...sorry for the typos)   

Comments

[sterling doak says...]

I'm on information cut back. I'm going with the Walden Pond routine for a while. Sort of a hands off, Mexico/Zen approach, where I let the information find me... on a beach with a cold Sol. Sometimes I feel like I'm putting too much energy into seeking and I end up missing the value in simply 'finding out'.
There is untapped value in laziness.

[Bryan Landaburu says...]

Man thats too true. I think i have my best information absorbsion when i am at my loosest ends. Beaches, or even frankly a crowded big city - something about being so noisy it becomes silent that works for me.

As procrastinator #1 (client8), i feel i could win an award in osmosis style learnin'.

B

[Bryan Landaburu says...]

ohhh...regarding RSS feeds, i am pulling in 87 RSS feeds a day. Why IS it that i cannot sleep? hmmm...

[BG says...]

Man, I hear you. Counting trade rags I think I receive about 15 pubs a week, plus the online infotainment gathering. The truth is, you only have so much RAM. Eventually, this information bombardment will result in overwriting an important file, like your wife's birthday, your son's middle name, or hell - your passcode to the ATM.

Trust me - once age starts to catch you and the information bash grabs ahold - your toast.

I commend your efforts, but highly recommend you cut back to half, starting with gathering those piles and dumping them in the trash. Why carry such a burden?

BG

[Bryan Landaburu says...]

Oh dear BG - i do hear ya...especially on the age thing. My memory just isnt the same and i am a whopping 37. The overload doesnt help.

I need an intervention. Beers? Great basin? :-)

[BG says...]

GB for lunch sounds great...but beers? Gave them up about 2 months ago...still not sure why though!

[Henry says...]

On the subject of information overload, in many situations less is better as non-essential data creates noise that can hide the critical data. Speaking about a very simple approach to reducing information overload, I'm using Context Organizer to summarize my reading material. When at a click of a button I see the keywords and the most important sentences - that helps me to quickly decide how useful the information is. In my experience summarization helps with finding specific information in a sea of disparate content and is critical in quickly focusing on the most relevant information. For more see: Context Discovery Inc.