Information Overload is Not the Problem, It’s Filter Failure

“There are many things of which a wise man might wish to be ignorant.” ? Ralph Waldo Emerson

My manager pointed out to me a while back that today’s problem isn’t information overload, it’s filter failure.

Here’s a quote by Clay Shirky, New York University new-media professor, writer, and consultant:

“What we’re dealing with now is not the problem of information overload, because we’re always dealing (and always have been dealing) with information overload…Thinking about information overload isn’t accurately describing the problem; thinking about filter failure is.”

What this tells me is that it’s increasingly important for us to create better filters and lenses.  Having access to information is great, but we need to filter and focus based on what we want to accomplish and what we need.

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