I propose alternating between distinct periods of information consumption and knowledge production to combat information overwhelm.
- Information consumption is fundamental for acquiring wisdom and perspective.
- It becomes a comfortable yet ultimately dissatisfying compromise when we avoid confronting knowledge through practice.
- There are two core problems of information navigation
- The Information Hose: a continuous stream of “currently relevant” information
- The Bottomless Waters of Knowledge: there is always more to learn, more ways to perfect understanding
- One can alternate between two periods of information navigation
- Period 1: Consumption
- Period 2: Surfacing and Organising Knowledge
- Producing knowledge despite feeling incomplete in our competence
The recursive effect in alternating these two periods improves both our ability to consume meaningfully and our capacity to surface the wisdom we already possess.