Minding the Information Gap
In Freakonomics, a book written by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, the authors discuss the disappearance of the “information gap” as driving the demystification of professionalized industries (e.g. real estate, medicine, etc.). I think that any argument rebutting their contention would be difficult to defend; yet, as much as knowledge and, in turn, information are empowering, what’s the threshhold for information overload, the point at which additional information generates decreasing returns? From social networking to emailing, I find myself spending an increasing amount of time maintaining my information channels to ensure greater capacity for more information. I find the process to be analogous to mowing and fertilizing my lawn; the more maintainance I perform, the greater my maintenance overhead.
Moreover, as the barriers to information have dissolved as a result of the Web, I feel compelled to gorge myself on every trivial bit of information I can find. Please don’t mistake my observation as a criticism. My inability to restrain myself is no basis for condemning the temptation; yet, given the sheer volume of data available for my consumption, I am inclined to gloss over concepts which require a much deeper analysis. I don’t believe that I am alone in this dilemma. After all, there’s only so much information that the average human mind can retain and, more importantly, recall, so, as a society, we’ve resigned ourselves to a superficial understanding of complex phenonema. Granted, the nature of humans to make decisions without all of the relevant details has been crucial to our survival as a species, but the proliferation of information has not only made us better informed to make decisions crucial to our survival but has also mired us in a morass of topics which are merely diversions we seek out due to our mental inertia, which stems from our overcivilization.
I’m reminded of traveling the London transit while being warned over the loudspeakers to “mind the gap”, drawing my attention to the space between the station platform and the train door so as to prevent me from falling in. I often feel as if I’ve fallen into the “information gap”, but at least I’m in good company.
