Data Overload? Or, Gimme More?

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How we think and act is not something we developed on our own. No, our brains have evolved over the millennia to learn routes, to know where things are, etc. Things that until recently were the critical items in our lives.

Now, with data coming in every direction, it seems that we need to know passwords. Those of us old enough to really be internet pioneers knew a slew of IP addresses. (You know, 134.170.184.133, 137.187.25.43- those four groups of numbers that got us to the site we wanted). And, because most folks are not like me (knowing the picayune, seeing patterns to recognize in unrelated numbers), the IP addresses of yore are now more user friendly things like Microsoft.com, nih.gov, etc.

There are plenty of other folks like me that know that US Route numbers that are odd traverse North-South, the even ones traverse East-West. And, the major North-South routes of the Eisenhower System of Defense Highways [the real name for the Interstate Highways] started with I-5 in California ending with I-95 in the East; after all the original US routes started with US-1 in the East and ended with US-101 in the West. (This made the two systems “even-handed”.) So, I- and folks like me- can pretty much tell where I am in the US by the route number-without a GPS.)

Our children are more used to those digital troves. (Dr. Daniel Levitin [neuroscience, McGill University] calls these younger folks “digital natives”.) But, interestingly (I used the adverb frustratingly) these same individuals often fail to discern which website proffers real news versus those that offer partisan, ideological, or just bizarre news. (It also explains why I had arguments with my students about what constitutes a valid resource to employ for their research papers.)

The trick is to find the median between organization and creativity. We need organized knowledge (it used to be file cabinets filled with relevant articles, for me) so we can build upon that data to create something new and better. A creative soul also needs exposure to a variety of inputs, sources, and information. (Of course, being able to filter what information is needed – and knowing where that information is- is also critical.)

Being able to categorize information for ready use is the key. Whether that’s a file cabinet, a hard drive, a notebook where we jot down facts that may trigger a thought (assuming we find it), or a Gal or Man Friday at one’s beck and call- is up to the individual (and, his or her pocketbook).

What do you use?

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8 thoughts on “Data Overload? Or, Gimme More?”

  1. Happy belated birthday, Roy. 😉 I used to know area codes. Could tell you the location in the country. But then area codes exploded (along with my brain). 😉 The great data overload is largely responsible for my Keep it simple theme. I appreciate a great organizer.

    1. Thanks for the birthday wishes, Cathy…
      I knew area codes too. But, don’t get me started as to why the powers-that-be decided to flood the area codes with cell phones, instead of employing NEW area codes for the cell phones, which would have provided SO much more information.
      I know zip codes, too- like that is a useful slew of data to carry around in my head.
      But, I use organizers of sorts… An index on my computers, Outlook (with various add-ons to improve its usefulness), etc…

      Thanks for the visit, the comment, and the birthday wishes (again).

  2. Organization and creativity are two of the issues I have been dealng with. I think that organization, such as a general category, can result in huge file cabinets worth of creative ideas.

    As for knowing which news sources are trustworthy, I think in some cases this could be based on biased political opinion. What is truth? There is no such thing as true objectivity.

    This same argument could be the source of disagreement in the class room although getting information from a tabloid or off the internet so it HAS to be true are only good arguments if they are the subject of research.

    Just my 2 cents.

    1. There are viable scientific data sites. And, while there may be choices of opinion, there are no choices of facts- even in politics.
      It’s easy to see if one were to compare AlJazeera, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, the LA Times, and the BBC coverage for a given topic.
      And, the problem, Ann, is too fee want to spend more than 2 cents of time researching for facts…

          1. Which of these can you see beyond your very liberal slant as telling the objective truth? Can you be that objective yourself?

            As I understand it the right to freedom of the press was an extremely important right to the founding fathers because they wanted the right to editorialize “the truth” however they chose with being dictated to by the throne.

            The fourth estate keeping us honest is a fiction newsmen perpetrated to escape the “yellow journalism” phase around the turn of the 20th century.

            With the proliferation of internet news agencies we have returned from attempts at objectivity to the “Wild West” days of anything goes. To hell with the truth. Full speed ahead.

            Again I ask you what is the truth and where can it be found?
            Ann Mullen recently posted..3 Reasons to Choose a HubSpot Accredited Inbound Marketing Agency in San Francisco

          2. Certainly, infrequently in what you call “internet” news. And, while I read liberal (or more than that) magazines, I find most of the plaints that the media is liberal to be BS. For decades, a certain network was considered to be liberal, when it was and still is more conservative than most. That doesn’t mean that the media, the press don’t have “slants”. The choice of words to describe certain events and positions is a critical factor in such verbiage.
            Frank Luntz, about whom I have written is highly skilled in choosing words to couch the “Right’s” positions in better light- making them seem less outlandish. Those – and the choices of the left wordmeisters- are the verbiage we should seek out and avoid.

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