Hypertrophy of Information and the Individual

“The hypertrophy of information likewise trends to interfere with our enjoyment in the repetition of a work. For the presence of information as a factor in literature has enabled writers to rely greatly upon ignorance as a factor in appeal. Thus, they will relieve a reader’s ignorance about a certain mountain in Tibet, but when they have done so they will have less to ‘tell’ him [or her] at a second reading. Surprise and suspense are the major devices for the utilization of ignorance (the psychology of information), for when they are depended upon, the reader’s interest in the work is based primarily upon his [or her] ignorance of its outcome.” Kenneth Burke, Counter-Statement (1931; Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968), 145.

As Richard Saul Wurman poignantly points out in Information Anxiety, “A weekday edition of The New York Times contains more information than the average person was likely to come across in a lifetime in 17th century England.” It has become a part of contemporary life (at least for me) to struggle between getting information and being in-the-know and shunning information altogether. Soren Gordhamer, an expert on the over-stressed and over-connected, and author of the forthcoming Wisdom 2.0: Ancient Secrets for the Creative and Constantly Connected, points out a reality with which many of us can identify,

“We reply to someone we don’t know on Facebook, and we won’t even look at the cashier at the grocery because we’re too busy typing text messages on our phones … Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen poet, says the most valuable gift you can give someone is your attention. The danger with this new technology is you can become less available to your children, friends and partners in your real-life world.”

Where has subtlety gone? While everyone is rushing to package information in better forms geared towards various audiences, where is “ignorance as a factor in appeal”? Instead of pushing the “right” information to the “right” audience at the “right” moment, there may be great[er] value in suspension of information. One of the great pleasures of reading a well written book or even getting to know someone is learning to wonder about and play with the subtleties in content and form. For example, aside from some utilitarian apps on an iPhone, why are most apps never used the second time around? Perhaps we need more exploration on holding back information – suspension and subtlety, not necessarily predictable and obvious. Instead of primarily seeking the useful and usable, a little emphasis on mental/emotional gymnastics couldn’t hurt.