Try Despair Inc, the pros of de-motivation. They are funny, in a sick sort of way, which is why I like them. How about you? Do you think they are funny? Check out their website www.depairinc.com

I went to Costco today for one thing, light bulbs. (more…)

Hindsight is a beautiful thing.

I am going to Tuscany tomorrow. (more…)

Interesting article a few ago in Newsweek magazine entitled  “I Can’t Think” by Sharon Begley.  As you know I love the in depth articles in The New Yorker because I can walk away after reading one article with more information compiled about a single subject in a complete and succinct manner than you will get anywhere else. I will confess that I sometimes have to check about half way through the article to see how many more pages there are because at times they do get lengthy.

Although I like to be well informed I find occasionally they inform me too well. Case in point is this wonderful article, which is about how we get our information and how much information is, well, too much for our poor brains.
Here it is in a nutshell, my yellow marker highlights taken directly from the article.  If you want more information it is from the March 7, 2011 issue.

The more information you process the more activity there is in your dorso-lateral pre-frontal cortex. However, if there is too much information the activity drops off as if a circuit breaker popped. When this happens you start to make stupid mistakes and bad decisions. For the same reason, your frustration and anxiety soar because the brain’s emotional region, previously held in check by the dorsolateral PFC runs wild and the decisions make less and less sense.
They call this “info-paralysis.”
It has been likened to drinking from a fire hose of information and it clearly has harmful cognitive effects.
The science of decision-making has shown that more information can lead to objectively poorer choices.
TOTAL FAILURE TO DECIDE: Every bit of information presents a choice: whether to pay attention, reply or to factor it into a decision. The proliferation of choices can create paralysis when the stakes are high and the information is complex and the choices are abundant.
DIMINISHING RETURNS:
A key reason for information’s diminishing or even negative return is the limited capacity of the brain’s working memory. It can holding roughly seven items (7-digit phone numbers were a great idea). Anything more must be processed into long term memory. That takes conscious effort and now the brain has to figure out what to keep and what to throw out and this becomes a harder task when there is so much information.
RECENCT TRUMPS QUALITY:
But it isn’t only the quantity of information but also the rate. The ceaseless influx of information trains us to respond instantly, sacrificing accuracy and thoughtfulness to the false god of immediacy. We go for the quick over the right.
The brain is wired to notice change over stasis and so we give greater weight in our decision making to what is latest, not what is more important or more interesting. What starts driving our decisions is the urgent rather than the important.
NEGLECTED UNCONSCIOUS:
Creative decisions are more likely to bubble up from a brain that applies unconscious thought to a problem. A constant focus on the new makes it harder for the information to percolate just below conscious awareness where it can combine in ways that spark smart decisions.
What is one of the greatest surprises in decision making science is the discovery that some of our best decisions are made through unconscious processes.
There are two ways an information glut can impair the unconscious system of decision making.
First, when there is a lot of information relevant to a decision people default to the conscious system and that causes then to make poorer choices. Second, the unconscious system works best when it ignores some information but in an info tsunami our minds struggle to decides what to ignore and with the internet it is easier to look for more and more information, only to compound the problem.
The more date, the more we struggle to separate the wheat from the chaff.
The prefrontal cortex that waves the white flag under on onslaught of information plays a key role in your gut level emotional decision making. If emotions are cut out of the process we are likely to over think a decision and this has been shown to produce worse outcomes on even the simplest tasks.

In a world of limitless information, regret over decisions we make become more and more common. And even if you make an objectively better choice, you tend to be less satisfied with it.

THE FIX?
Experts suggest dealing with emails and texts in batches rather than real time. Avoid the trap of thinking that a decision requiring a lot of information is best made methodically, you may do better and regret less if you let your unconscious turn it over.
Set priorities: if a choice turns on only a few criteria just focus on those.
And it may just be a good idea to turn off the computer and phone and let the information percolate rather than ceaselessly look for more information to help you make your decision.
And yes, this was the short abridged version of the article!
You don’t need any more information than this about information you need for your brain. Trust me. This is more than enough information.

My Amish neighbors have a pony for their 3 boys but no saddle. (more…)