Overload and Boredom: Essays on the Quality of Life in the Information Society

by Orrin E. Klapp

This series of essays explores the impact of information on the quality of life in modern society. Addressing the significance of boredom as an indicator of overloads of information, Klapp argues that the information society has become boring in spite of itself. He contends that constant inundation with information has led to nothing less than the attrition of meaning. Redundancy and noise, Klapp asserts, have replaced resonance and variety in the modern world. The information society has become entropic rather than progressive and a deficit in the quality of life has resulted. The author expands upon these problems of the information society; identifying their origins, addressing their implications, and examining the social placebos and temporary remedies currently employed in dealing with them. Finally, he offers his conclusions and suggests ways in which modern man might address the loss in human potential and perhaps find a remedy for culturally symptomatic boredom.

Genres: Nonfiction

174 pages, Hardcover

First published February 21, 1986

Reviews

[Wilte · Rating 3 out of 5]

The perils of too much information and subsequent boredom. Seems even more relevant now than in 1986 when written. Contains a couple of nice mental models.

See Twitter thread:
https://twitter.com/wilte/status/1272...

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

p. 119, on the "meaning-entropy" and "redundancy-variety" matrix, is great.

"Kaplan (1979) claims that sports provide the major vehicle for gambling to escape the tedium of modern jobs . . . and diverts public attention from critical social issues." (138)