Progress is dead

[LostMyMap]

Originally Posted by Mounds

Started reading this book:

Amazon.com: Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut Revised and Updated Edition (9780062515513): David Shenk: Books: Reviews, Prices & more

It's identified a few of the things that I've noticed so far. One of the biggies for me is fragmentation of information. It's surprisingly hard to get a good overview of certain topics.
Another thing that's been touched on is an impending ADD epidemic. I find that quite interesting, considering I had (have? Does it go away?) ADHD myself. Maybe that's why I'm so darn sensitive to this stuff in the first place.
Unfortunately, this isn't the book I'm looking for. At least not yet. I know the problem exists and I don't really feel like reading three hundred pages meant to shock me into believing. Hopefully the tail end of the book will involve some solutions but at this point, I kinda doubt it. I've read my share of these types of books and the solution part tends to be the epilogue, whereas it should be the meat IMO.
So, looks like I'm blazing my own trail once more.

Well if you want to geek out some, you can look up 'semantic web'. It was supposed to be a solution whereby facts about things were linked together across the web like pages are now. It hasn't really come to fruition yet that I know of, at least not in a big way.

One of the issues in something like that is establishing credibility of the source of the facts that would be better than how that looks on the web now.

[spacecadetglow]

Originally Posted by Medea33

When I'm trying to work something out, I frequently approach things sideways, particularly when I'm uninterested in mentally collating received wisdom. In that vein, have you ever read "Blink," by Malcolm Gladwell? If not, it's about a way of thinking he calls thin-slicing - making snap decisions based on quick data scans.

Can you post more, plz? You're awesome.

[Solipsist]

Wait a minute!!

If progress is dead, why is this thread progressing?

[Lakshyayidhi Lakshmihi]

Originally Posted by Solipsist

Wait a minute!!

If progress is dead, why is this thread progressing?

Information overload, case in point!

[Mounds]

Originally Posted by Medea33
When I'm trying to work something out, I frequently approach things sideways, particularly when I'm uninterested in mentally collating received wisdom. In that vein, have you ever read "Blink," by Malcolm Gladwell? If not, it's about a way of thinking he calls thin-slicing - making snap decisions based on quick data scans.

My brother was telling me about that book, saying I should read it. I might skip off to that one down the line.
When you say approaching something sideways, here is what I envision. Imagine the books contents are listed in descending order. You would simply move to the part of the book (or subject for that matter) that interests you and start from there? Kind of pop in and out for the revelant information and nothing more?
If so, good idear. I am stealing it.

-Tim

[Mounds]

Originally Posted by Lakshyayidhi Lakshmihi

Information overload, case in point!

Lol, there's been a few of those in here.

[Mounds]

Originally Posted by LostMyMap

Well if you want to geek out some, you can look up 'semantic web'. It was supposed to be a solution whereby facts about things were linked together across the web like pages are now. It hasn't really come to fruition yet that I know of, at least not in a big way.

That sounds rather intriguing. It kind of reminds me of the "Customers Who Bought This Item" feature on Amazon. I find it crazy useful for zipping through lots of books and finding ones that really interest me.
Definately going to look into that.

-Tim

[Lakshyayidhi Lakshmihi]

Originally Posted by Mounds

My brother was telling me about that book, saying I should read it. I might skip off to that one down the line.
When you say approaching something sideways, here is what I envision. Imagine the books contents are listed in descending order. You would simply move to the part of the book (or subject for that matter) that interests you and start from there? Kind of pop in and out for the revelant information and nothing more?
If so, good idear. I am stealing it.

-Tim

I use the index.

[Mounds]

Thank you for bearing with me, fellow forum members. This has been a good brainstorming thread for me. Hopefully some others find some value in it as well.

[Medea33]

Originally Posted by spacecadetglow

Can you post more, plz?

Woman, do you know what you're asking? If I had more time, I'd be closing in on Angela's post total in about a minute and a half.

Originally Posted by Mounds

My brother was telling me about that book, saying I should read it. I might skip off to that one down the line.
When you say approaching something sideways, here is what I envision. Imagine the books contents are listed in descending order. You would simply move to the part of the book (or subject for that matter) that interests you and start from there? Kind of pop in and out for the revelant information and nothing more?
If so, good idear. I am stealing it.

-Tim

Well, I generally do that when reading for information, because I'm efficient and getting entangled in the dross is not my idea of a good time. It makes more sense to zero in on just where I want to start and work from there. Sort of like a chaos map for information gathering.

What I meant though, was, to use your current preoccupation as an example, that instead of exploring the shallow depths of confirmation bias by reading a book on information overload, I'd go sideways towards information processing, which is what "Blink" is about.

[Solipsist]

This thread completely loses me.

But carry on progressing, peeps.

[Mounds]

Originally Posted by Medea33

Woman, do you know what you're asking? If I had more time, I'd be closing in on Angela's post total in about a minute and a half.



Well, I generally do that when reading for information, because I'm efficient and getting entangled in the dross is not my idea of a good time. It makes more sense to zero in on just where I want to start and work from there. Sort of like a chaos map for information gathering.

What I meant though, was, to use your current preoccupation as an example, that instead of exploring the shallow depths of confirmation bias by reading a book on information overload, I'd go sideways towards information processing, which is what "Blink" is about.

Ah, I get what your saying.

Dang, I just looked into this book. That sounds a lot like what I'm after. I'll be bumming this from my brother before the weekend. Thanks for the tip!