Information Overload: A System for Better Managing Everyday Data

Chapter 11. PEOPLE AT WORK

The human brain is a social brain. We like to talk to other people, we love other people, and we need other people to live a happy life. In all this, information plays an increasingly important role. This section mainly revolves around the question: What do you want and need to know?

Choosing from the large information supply is like choosing from people that you meet and get to know better. There are more than six billion people walking this Earth. Ultimately, you will only get to know a few of them well. Many others will come and go. It is the same with information. Ultimately, there will only be a few subjects that you wish to know more about because they interest you. The rest are not useful enough to store in your memory.

In this last chapter, I will provide recommendations on how to set up that network of people, how you can manage information workers, and especially on how to grow old inquisitively.

SMART PEOPLE

The very best way to obtain good information is via other people. They know you, it will cost you little time and effort to assign them your query, and you will be able to immediately respond to the information they bring you. Furthermore, by asking you extra questions, they will be able to find out much better what you wish to know. A five-minute conversation usually yields more information than a five-hour search on the Internet. It is therefore important to get in touch and keep in touch with people who can provide you with the right information. ...