I am a big fan of Penelope Trunk at the Brazen Careerist Blog. She writes provocative articles that are aimed at Generation Y, but really is stuff for everyone to ponder. She is opinionated and says some over the edge things, but this is why she is so widely read (loved and hated) by readers around the world.
Today she had a post that is thought provoking, and you should read it. But this statistic in the post fascinates me:
“One week of the New York Times is more information than someone would have come across in a lifetime in 1800″.
Wow, think about that. We are not talking about thousands of years ago... this is just 207 years. Hardly that much time in the big scope of things.
I left a comment on her blog, and decided it was worth posting here:
With all the information that we have at our fingertips via TV news, NY Times (and other periodicals), the internet (including, but not limited to, blogs, message boards, listserves, videos, news sites, ebooks, etc…) what are we doing with it??? Are we happier and more at peace as people? Are we making the world a better, safer and more stable place?
Is having the latest information on Paris Hilton equal to having the latest information on the tragedy in Darfur? Can we and do we embrace the useful information that allows us to be more productive ….. or does it just all become fluff that clouds or minds and makes us retreat more into ourselves?
Is someone who has read all that information in one week of the NY Times somehow better than someone in 1800?
Have A Great Day.
thom
2 comments:
Hey, Thom. You ask great questions. And they make me think harder about time management. Most of time management, at this point, is figuring out how to deal with information quickly, or not at all. Maybe the trick is to figure out which information really does make my life better. To be honest, I'm not sure..
Penelope
One of the places you can find that information is in the "Shift Happens" presentation, frequently cited as one of the best presentations (http://www.slideshare.net/jbrenman/shift-happens-33834). It contains some other thought-provoking facts as well.
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