Info-Paralysis

In her Newsweek article (March 7, 2011), “I Can’t Think!,” Sharon Begley observes that the plethora of information available via the internet has harmed rather than improved our decision making.  Here are some excerpts from this article….

“The booming science of decision making has shown that more information can lead to objectively poorer choices, and to choices people come to regret.”

“Every bit of incoming information presents a choice: whether to pay attention, whether to reply, whether to factor it into an impending decision.  But decision science has shown that people faced with a plethora of choices are apt to make no decision at all.”

“A key reason for information’s diminishing, or even negative, returns is the limited capacity of the brains working memory.  It can hold roughly seven items….Anything more must be processed into long-term memory and…the brain [then] struggles to figure out what to keep and what to disregard.”

“We are conditioned to give greater weight in our decision making machinery to what is latest, now what is more important or more interesting.”

How can you protect yourself from having your decisions warped by excess information?  Experts advise dealing with emails and texts in batches, rather than in real time…Avoid the trap of thinking that a decision requiring you to assess a lot of complex information is best made methodically, and consciously;  you will do better, and regret less, if you let your unconscious turn it over by removing yourself from the info influx.”

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