I am sure we have all experienced the sensation of being overwhelmed due to so much information given to us in one time. When there is too much information our brain seems overloaded and it simply shuts down—basically experiencing a brain freeze. Now we wonder, why is that? It is simply because we are given too much information and our brain does not have enough time to sort out what the important facts are, as explained in Sharon Begley’s article “I Cant Think!” So, therefore, instead of retaining information and making the most precise decisions, our brain decides not to hold onto any information at all. Therefore, it forces us to act swiftly, not really knowing or caring why we made that decision.
Decision making skills are extremely important in our every day-to-day lives. If we simply learned how to take on information in the correct manner, our decisions would benefit us greatly. One of the best examples I can think of was also stated in article six—taking exams. I am sure we have all been there, cramming for an exam the night before and you feel like your ready for the test the next day. Unfortunately when you get to the test and read the questions your mind goes blank. So, you ask yourself why? You know without a doubt that you know the information and that you studied into the wee hours in the night, but still you get a brain freeze. According to the article, when we have been given too much information all at once, our brain has trouble storing it, because it is trying to sort what should go in our long term or short term memories. So when we go to take that test our minds freak out and just throws all the information away. That is why it is best to study in intervals, so that our minds have time to store it in our long term memory so that we can retrieve it at a later time. We also need to recognize that the small details are not truly necessary, as long as we get the bigger view of things, we are more likely to remember them.
This generation is just use to last minute, get it now type of information. Although that is an advantage we have to use it in an effective manner, otherwise it’s worthless. By learning how to take in information we can even better our day-to-day decisions. For example the article gave examples like where should I get my news? Or which coffee drink should I order? This may not seem like a big deal, but in truth it is. We all just need to slow things down a little, do a little planning, which will lead to better decisions. I know that I will take a lot from this article and put it to use.