Previously published
Introduction
Blockchainized Bachelor’s Thesis
Blockchainized Bachelor’s Thesis – Initial Brainstorm
Thesis
1.Abstract
4.Definitions of terms and premises
5.Information overload as an issue
5.2.1.1 Reduction of the potential to gain the ability to focus
5.2.1.2 Reduction of the potential for achieving innovation
5.2.1.3 Decrease of decision-making quality
5.2.1.4 Increased chances of psychological symptoms
Sources walkthrough
1.Battling Information Overload in the Information Age
3.Database Research faces the Information Explosion
4.The experience of mobile information overload: struggling between needs and constraints
5.Longer online reviews are not necessarily better
6.An ant-colony based approach for real-time implicit collaborative information seeking
5.2.1.2 Reduction of the potential for achieving innovation
It is undeniable that information age as a whole increases the potential for innovation, thanks to ubiquitously available information. The paradox, however, occurs when one realizes that the information overload diminishes the potential to achieve innovation again, albeit not to the level before the information explosion.
I'm dealing here with the problem of the “wheel rediscovery”. If a scientist had to go through all the relevant resources published for the issue, he would have to devote his whole life to exploration of such an issue, and after several decades of collecting information, he could finally start with his own intellectual activity. So, in general, scientists primarily go through and cite the "summaries of resources" of the issue, for their work is really based on them, and then they cite several other relevant sources that help complete the study. Few people, however, are willing to spend years of really hard and genuine research of the information available on the topic. Efficiency itself, therefore, lags behind. Thus, the disharmony between the relevant information that has already been dealt with and how much of this information can be effectively processed by the scientists is created. If the scientist would try to accelerate this process and process this information longer and more actively to shorten the potential period of several years of study on the subject, he would be exposed to information overload. Consequently, information overload results in lesser potential for overall innovation [14].
5.2.1.3 Decrease of decision-making quality
Every conscious decision-making sequence, where an individual aims to make the decision effective, consists of three parts - Part before decision, where we identify the problem, collect data about it, and then evaluate it. It is followed by the decision itself, when the possible results of possible decisions are imagined, one of which is chosen at the end. The whole process ends with a reflection, when the outcome of the decision is assessed (whether the problem has been solved, whether the objectives have been achieved) and compared with the possible impacts of other decisions, etc. This part is absolutely crucial because it gives us information inputs for future moments when we need to produce quality decisions. Information overload can hinder decision-making in all parts of the process. The very first step of the decision-making process, ie the collection of information, is the most risky in terms of information overload. People tend to collect more information than would actually be needed to make the right decision, which often leads to congestion [15].
From a game theory point of view, more relevant information is always better, but only if the individual has the ability to efficiently process that information. In 1988, Dörner proved that there is no linear dependence between the amount of information gained and the increasing quality of decision making. When the test participants were exposed to excessive information and time stress (it is necessary to point out that they were all educated and highly positioned in their work), their effectiveness declined. Everyone then turned to simplification of situations, viewed them as black or white and accidentally filtered information [14].
5.2.1.4 Increased chances of psychological symptoms
Psychological symptoms are an indispensable part of the information overload, but the correct identification of the problems from which they really raise is problematic. Again, we are limited by the lack of understanding of the brain itself. The effect of such congestion will always be very subjective and depend on so many variables that its exact investigation is now virtually impossible. This, however, does not mean that potential psychic symptoms caused by information overload should be ignored. Here, more than elsewhere, correlation does not mean causality. Nevertheless, many years of research have identified at least possible problems directly related to information overload.
To be able to cope with a great deal of information, one needs a strong will. But it is itself weakened by the over-abundance of information [14]. As I have already shown, in the information age all individuals must be active with the information to be able to survive. But people are often forced to do more and longer than they would if they had the opportunity not to do so. The day begins earlier and ends later (sometimes no at all) [13]. As soon as a person is exposed to enough information to reach his daily limit, however, he or she may experience extreme fatigue, tensions, feelings of helplessness and incompetence and stress [23]. All of these symptoms, of course, have more triggering factors, however, information overload is indisputably one of them. I have already described the complexity of processing information for the brain. If the brain is already overloaded, it has a much greater tendency to jump from one point of attention to another, spending a lot of energy, since it must activate other neural modules and their synapses again (trying to store this information dramatically increases energy use). Information overload directly affects our fatigue. The stress (and all of its subsets) that an individual feels may be to a large extent caused by the external pressure forcing us to complete the task in the near future (ie, work despite the information overload) [23].
Assuming information overload for longer period of time, ideally combined with insufficient sleep (hence inadequate regeneration of the brain and its subsequent inability to manage another information onslaught), burnout, chronic anxiety and global apathy may occur [23]. Such burnout syndrome can be manifested in many ways from lethargy to aggression.
Sources
13.GOLDSBOROUGH, Reid. Battling Information Overload in the Information Age. Tech Directions [online]. 2009, 68(9), 13-13 [cit. 2018-01-05]. ISSN 10629351.
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.
15.Steiner, C. M., Nussbaumer, A., Neville, K., & Albert, D. (2017). A psychological framework to enable effective cognitive processing in the design of emergency management information systems. Electronic Journal of Information Systems Evaluation, 20(1), 39-54.
23.TOMEČKOVÁ, Jana. Informační zahlcení jako bariéra ve sdílení informací v organizaci. Praha, 2010. Diplomová práce. Univerzita Karlova. Vedoucí práce Petra Slouková. Dostupné z: https://is.cuni.cz/webapps/zzp/detail/91353/
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