HyperLibMOOC discussion

Following Daniel's good idea to have threads about the books we choose, I started this one for The Information Diet. I got my copy from the library this week and will be posing thoughts here as I go along. Join me if you choose this book, too.

I am through the first part of this book and it is a little bit terrifying! The book is about information overconsumption and the first part is focused on the definition of and consequences from overconsumption.

Over the first 5 chapters some key terms rang true:
overconsumption
affirmation distributors
link-bait
churnalism
media miners
reality dysmorphia
confirmation bias
ignorance epidemic
production of doubt
culturally induced doubt
epistemic closure
filter failure
personalization technology

But when Johnson gets to chapter 6 is when I started to really feel panic. That's the chapter called "The Symptoms of Information Obesity" and though I already knew I was a candidate for a diet, if I hadn't before then, chapter 6 would have had me scared straight.

I mean, I already kind of knew information consumption affected my sense of time (that's why I listen to audiobooks on long drives) and attention fatigue is discussed in the literature (facebook ruins young people's attention span, right?) but the other symptoms are downright creepy. Loss of social breadth, distorted sense of reality - I suppose I should have been able to identify these, but I sure hadn't. Brand loyalty...a little creepy. Apnea...a lot more creepy! And that's before Johnson makes a drive-by mention of "a variety of other addictive disorders that come alongside information overconsumption" in the second to last paragraph of Part I. YIKES! I am looking forward to some concrete advice in Part II.

And on a side note - I am appreciating the metaphor between physical and information obesity and frankly it is astounding how much of it maps across. Evolution, neurology, health, sociology, and more play out in remarkably similar ways for food and information. I suspect the "diet" portion of the book will work the same drawing parallels. At least I hope it does. It's been fascinating.

Andrea wrote: "I am through the first part of this book and it is a little bit terrifying! The book is about information overconsumption and the first part is focused on the definition of and consequences from ov..."

HI,
Reading your description sounds a lot like Module 4's Technolust, technostress, divorce etc. Too much going on all the time. Thank you for the information. I keep finding more books I will have to read when this course is over.
Julia

Julia wrote: "I keep finding more books I will have to read when this course is over." Of course, this is exactly the problem! I have been enjoying the irony of media warning me about media. Which doesn't make it wrong, just harder to act on.