Do you know the significance of 12 noon January 1, 2011?
By
laden with information!
So what’s the big deal about 12 noon on January 1, 2011 that is set to rock our planet?
This is the supposed time and date by which the amount of information in the world is set to double in a 12 hour period. So between midnight Dec. 31, 2010 and noon January 1, 2011, the world, and Atlas shouldering it, will quiver, quake, moan and groan under the weight of DOUBLE the amount of information that populated the world the day before. Holy cow! What on earth (literally) are we to make of it all or even do with it? We are overloaded and overwhelmed now!
Another scary factoid is that it is considered common knowledge in the publishing industry that, except in rare cases of tightly written briefs, most written material is composed of about 90% filler. Yes, you heard me- FILLER information. In other words, 10% of most written material is essence leaving a whopping 90% as filler, verbosity, hot-air, pomposity, make-it-look-like-they- know- their-stuff and customers-expect a big-fat-book-for their-money FILLER.
So not only do we need to know how to sort through all those piles and files of information to find the golden nuggets, we need to be able to find what we need , when we need it, and make sense of what we find.
In the coming month I will share with you every day, right here on this blog, a series of thinking tools, techniques and strategies that will give you hope and a leg up on the coming information onslaught.
Stay tuned and hold on for the ride!
Very interesting. I think a lot of people should consider the “filler” when they are writing or purchasing. I could sell you great information on fitness, and pass it on in 500 words, but people would be disappointed that the e-book wasn’t 5000 words. Hmmm. something to think about.
keep up the good flow of information!
Thanks
Rob
#blog30
And I’ve been resisting the urge to get another bookshelf for my library! This is both interesting and frightening, so perhaps you will share how we are to deal with all of this information in a rational and productive way.
Connie
Donna,
That’s an incredible amount of information! I wonder if a computer will explode somewhere from all the extra data
Where did you hear about this? I would love to read more about information growth (sometimes I’m a geeky numbers guy!)
Steve
Hi Steve-
Computer?! How about our brains!
Will have to recall the source- I found it when I was researching to do a keynote on ‘Creativity in 21st Century Education’ with Dr. Edward DeBono in England last year.
I look forward to knowing more about what you do as we are surely complimentary!
Hi Connie!
Coming from a confirmed book-a-holic, I get what you mean! Even though I know (and teach) Speed Reading, I still have to put in the time for the methods to work!
Yes, over the month I’ll share a number of thinking tools as well as approaches to effective reading and iformation management.
Thanks for visiting!
Hey there Rob!
Actually you are onto something here- notice how in Internet Marketing we can charge more for a shorter ebook or special report than people are willing to pay for a mighty tome at a major book store. Why’s that?
For one, perceived value on the part of the customer.
And also key, people in IM want to cut to the chase – get to the key, useful data because they need it to DO something with.
Lots more info, planned to be useful, coming every day. Thanks for stopping by!