CONNECTICUT LIBRARIES
June, 1998, Vol. 40, No. 6
CONNECTICUT LIBRARIES
June, 1998, Vol. 40, No. 6
Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut
Are you "a librarian who has been professionally trained to grapple with mountains of information but has lately succumbed to the feeling that the information supply is finally getting out of control?" If so, you are not alone. When author David Shenk used the Internet to collect examples of people's experiences with "techno-stress" and information overload, he was swamped by scores of similar descriptions (page 43) from accountants, lawyers, and engineers, as well as librarians. Our problem is what Shenk calls the First Law of Data Smog (page 27): "Information, once rare and cherished like caviar, is now plentiful and taken for granted like potatoes."
While his first law is amusing and his book lively and entertaining, Shenk has done his homework, and he is serious about what the explosion of information has done to us. It has become an unhealthy smog that surrounds us, chokes us, and blurs our vision. He blames data smog for many of today's unhealthy physical and psychological symptoms like attention deficit disorder, poor memory, high blood pressure, declining visual acuity, and even the deterioration of basic civility, to name a few.
For example, Shenk notes that Americans increasingly report memory problems. He explains this common malady as one of "cue overload." We humans store memories in context. We think of something, and that triggers other memories. We smell "Old Spice" after shave lotion and remember our father dabbing it on before going to cousin Susie's wedding. We remember the joke that the baby-sitter told us that night, and also the automobile accident that the sitter's mother was in years later. We humans have trouble remembering when the data we receive is associated with a limited number of cues. When we get most of our information from the same computer screen at the same desk in the same office, our memory falters because the computer screen cue is overloaded. Similarly, Shenk diagnoses an epidemic of culturally-induced ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) as the result of our inability to keep up with information inundating us from phone calls, faxes, email, and news bulletins.
The author accuses the information industry of selling anxiety (p. 84), not technology. The industry's main goal has become frightening computer users into believing that the technology they own, no matter how new, is obsolete. Consumers are desperate for the newest software release. Businesses crave the competitive edge. Yet, the very technologies that were going to reduce our hours of work have increased them by 164 hours per year compared to twenty years ago (p. 56). Computers have increased the tempo of our work day and extended its length as well.
Many of us argue back that computers will "provide greater knowledge to larger numbers of people, truer perception of the meaning of current events, ... and a broader understanding of the needs and aspirations of our fellow human beings." David Sarnoff, founder of NBC, spoke those very words about television in 1940. Shenk wryly points out that "we are not knowledge seekers when we watch TV; we are couch potatoes." He cites several surveys demonstrating that, despite the omnipresent media and the rise of information technology, Americans are less informed than ever about public affairs. Shenk suggests we be wary of visionaries with magical machines and dazzling prophecies (p 60).
Because there is so much information in our environment, anyone with a message to send will eventually resort to the "two-by four effect." You may remember one of several old jokes where the punch line is that you had to hit someone on the head with a piece of lumber in order to get his attention. The two-by-four effect has long since taken over the advertising world. Shenk sees it flourishing in the loud, vicious, and sensationalist behavior of radio talk show hosts, television news, and politicians jockeying for support. The two-by-four desensitizes the listener, cuts off intelligent discussion, and prevents many bright, concerned, and insightful people from participating in public affairs. Of necessity, it is an ever-escalating phenomenon.
Can we escape data smog? Shenk provides many helpful, common sense things that we as individuals can do, including an appendix with information on removing oneself from junk mail, telemarketing, and electronic mail lists. He also offers some "big government" solutions that may trouble some readers, especially those who stand right of center. I think that he can expect little help from the left either. Shortly after reading Data Smog, I saw Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan on Face the Nation. He was participating in a discussion on the transgressions of the IRS. Senator Moynihan held before him the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. It was over 800 pages in length. That's a lot of smog!
Shenk's best advice is "Be your own filter." And, please, filter what goes out, as well as what comes in.
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