Information…Information… and more information… YAY!

As technology advances and sources of information become easier to obtain our knowledge in the world and our surroundings expand beyond what we could have ever imagined. With just one push of a button to our remote control we can access the news on TV, one click of a mouse online and we can search the web for tons of information, and now we can even set up news alerts directly onto our smart phones. This is a great way to stay up to date on our surroundings however, our brains are consumed with so much information I can’t even keep up! A volcano erupted in which continent again? There was yet another shooting in which state? How many puppies were rescued from that fire… or was it a ship wreck? Too much information, too many sources, not enough room to store! The same happens when cramming for an important test. Our brains can only gather, receive, obtain, and retain so much. Eventually our brains start to crash. Words such as info-paralysis or information fatigue ring a bell? Yup that’s me, although I wouldn’t use such fancy words I’d like to think of me as more of a zombie.  My brain starts to forget even the day of the week I’m in after a long study session.  How can we train our brains to keep what’s important and dismiss the rest? Well, your brain kind of does that on its own. According to Article 5 in our textbooks Annual Editions mass edition (12-13) “I can’t think” by Sharon Begley (pg 21) our brains go through four major routs when information overload strikes. Among them are total failure to decide, many diminishing returns, ‘recency’ trumps quality and the neglected unconscious.  My route? Well… all of the above. Which one best describes you?