Blockchain Bachelor’s Thesis – Information Overload and Methods of its Elimination in the Modern Information Society: Information Overload Consequences - Reduction of the potential to gain the ability to focus attention
The problem of determining the consequences of information overload brings us back to an inadequate understanding of the brain. Thus, we have no choice but to try to empirically investigate what consequences tend to happen after an overwhelming or long-term information overload. Correlation does not mean causality, but I am convinced that at least some of the consequences can be confirmed with some degree of probability.
5.2.1.1 Reduction of the potential to gain the ability to focus attention
Firstly, I will focus on the issue I have already raised in the Attention chapter. It seems that the information explosion, with the enrichments it brought, stimulates information behaviour, in which an individual jumps from one point of attention to another. He even learns this activity, but naturally loses the ability to deny his attention from deviation at one point [14]. I tried to prove that the problem is in degrading the synapses between the necessary neural modules or the absolute absence of training, so the synapse was never even stiffened or created. As I have already said, the brain is not born with an advanced ability to concentrate on one thing. However, if one attempts to acquire this skill, one must get to the limits of his abilities, as in the strengthening of the muscles in the body. In this case, however, the shifting of the boundary is equal to exposure to information overload, because it must occur if one tries to concentrate on one issue (except for the meditation that is discussed in the Methods of elimination) longer than he has ever been able to – the brain gets to the limit of its processing and absorbing ability. However, such a situation is "hurting". It is no coincidence that most populations are more likely to approach obesity and muscle degradation than good fitness and good ability to control their movement. In general, the body tries to avoid pain. One of the direct consequences of Information overload therefore is the reduction of the potential to dominate the ability to focus more on one issue and consequently to develop it.
Research has confirmed 25 years ago the fact that young Americans are less likely to read longer periods of time (more than 30 minutes), which confirms the thesis of the degradation of the ability to concentrate over longer periods of time. Of the 36% of all the youngsters who admitted to read for more than 30 minutes each day, the number dropped by 14% in 10 years. Now it is about 22%. Most of this cut time is now used for sleeping. Humanity therefore prefers shorter texts at the expense of longer texts [8].
Source
14.SCHNEIDER, U. The knowledge-attention-gap: Do we underestimate the problem of information overload in knowledge management? JOURNAL OF UNIVERSAL COMPUTER SCIENCE. NEW YORK: SPRINGER-VERLAG [online] 2002, 8(5), 482-490. ISSN 0948-6968.
8.DAVENPORT, Thomas H. a John C. BECK. The Attention Economy: Understanding the New Currency of Business. Revised edition. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2002. ISBN 978-1578518715.
