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This is a softcover version of the title released in 2011; there is no new material. The modern human animal spends upwards of 11 hours out of every 24 in a state of constant consumption. Not eating, but gorging on information ceaselessly spewed from the screens and speakers we hold dear. Just as we have grown morbidly obese on sugar, fat, and flour ?so, too, have we become gluttons for texts, instant messages, emails, RSS feeds, downloads, videos, status updates, and tweets. We're all battling a storm of distractions, buffeted with notifications and tempted by tasty tidbits of information. And just as too much junk food can lead to obesity, too much junk information can lead to cluelessness. The Information Diet shows you how to thrive in this information glut ?what to look for, what to avoid, and how to be selective. In the process, author Clay Johnson explains the role information has played throughout history, and why following his prescribed diet is essential for everyone who strives to be smart, productive, and sane. In The Information Diet , you will: Discover why eminent scholars are worried about our state of attention and general intelligence Examine how today ?s media ?Big Info ?give us exactly what we want: content that confirms our beliefs Learn to take steps to develop data literacy, attention fitness, and a healthy sense of humor Become engaged in the economics of information by learning how to reward good information providers Just like a normal, healthy food diet, The Information Diet is not about consuming less ?it ?s about finding a healthy balance that works for you… (more)
There really is no government or private mechanism to regulate the information habits of the average citizen. Clay Johnson believes there should be voluntary dieting of information habits. We're reading to much crap, Johnson says. or rather, we're consuming to much crap from radio, television, and movies. Except, I don't listen to radio anymore and only turn on television to pick something off Netflix occasionally. I think Johnson isn't talkng about me, except he is, because he includes people who junk out on e-mail, Twitter, and, most assuredly, facebook. And how many people read newspapers anymore? At one end of the spectrum Johnson is a technocrat who suggests using technology to get at the facts and avoid all that self-affirmation stuff people get through their favourite information sources. It's not good enough to read lefty sources if you're a lefty. It's not good enough to watch Fox News if you're a righty. We end up just reading and hearing what we already believe and not gaining perspective. I kind of agree with Johnson and I try very hard to accumulate perspective through a variety of online tools, my favourites being Flipboard, Zite and (sorry) facebook. In the old days we used to send our children to school and hope they got educated. Today our schools are behind our children in knowing "what's going on." or even, how to find out what's going on. Really, "school" is an obsolete concept, at least it's obsolete in as a mechanism for giving us perspective. It's still a pretty good place to learn about the solar system, and arithmatic. But perspective? Eh. ( )
I like the message of this book and its metaphor. But for whatever reason, the abundance of computer-based solutions left me feeling cold. I plan on taking the advice to heart, but will use some of my own methods to reduce the glut of bad information "calories" and needless attention-stealers from my life.
I also feel like the already slim book was padded out to be an acceptable book length. Maybe because I've already books that critique the media, I found myself skimming or skipping many of the sections of the book. But on the positive side, that makes it easier to get the important points from the book! ( )
This could have been a great book. Unfortunately, the shallow treatment of the subject, the weak citations of often secondary or tertiary sources, and the failure of call to arms to utilize some of the most important components of digital literacy (librarians and other information pros as guides for literacy, for example) really killed the good mojo.
I think he also failed, in a big way to remind those who already have or want to have good information diets to become resources themselves by volunteering with their local officials to help them with their own information diets. Newly elected officials may find that they need help organizing or synthesizing the information they now encounter.
I was disappointed that his emphasis lay with the larger urban settings in many contexts. I also found myself wishing he used more seminal works in the field of neuroscience, information science, and learning. There are still good nuggets of information here, it just failed to live up to the hype for me. ( )
I picked this book up out of curiosity mostly. I found it somewhat underwhelming. Part of the reason I found it falling short is that, to be honest, a lot of what Johnson preaches is information literacy repackaged. It's what good instruction librarians, and just good librarians in general, have been doing for years, even long before the Internet that he seems so fixated on. That was the other thing that did not endear me to the book: the often elitist assumption that Internet access is easy to get and that everyone can get it. There is such a thing as a digital divide, and the author just seemed to either miss it or ignore it. Also, he tries a bit too hard to remain neutral, and I have to say, there are times when one side is wrong. Pure and simple. This is not something we need to get relativistic about. In addition, if you are well-read already, and you keep up pretty well, then a lot of the book up to the point he gets to the actual information diet is a backgrounder that you can either skim or skip. There are some interesting things now and then, but unless you don't keep up much, they are not really new. As for the plan itself, let me save you time: be selective of your information sources, be balanced, cancel your cable, get it all off the Internet (because we all know broadband is easy to get and ubiquitous). I did take some notes as I read, so I will likely do a longer write-up of the book in my blog. For now, I will say I was not really impressed. This book could have just been a long magazine article. Or the content could have just been left at the companion website. ( )
"When you're young, you look at television and think, There's a conspiracy. The networks have conspired to dumb us down. But when you get a little older, you realize that's not true. The networks are in business to give people exactly what they want. That's a far more depressing thought. Conspiracy is optimistic! You can shoot the bastards! We can have a revolution! But the networks are really in business to give people what they want. It's the truth." -- Steve Jobs
"What we know about diets hasn't changed. It still makes sense to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, balance calories from other foods, and keep calories under control. That, however, does not make front-page news." -- Marion Nestle, Food Activist
"For 200 years the newspaper front page dominated public thinking. In the last 20 years that picture has changed. Today television news is watched more often than people read newspapers, than people listen to radio, than people read or gather any other form of communication. The reason: people are lazy. With television you just sit-watch-listen. The thinking is done for you." -- Anonymous memo, Nixon Presidential Archives Largely attributed to Roger Ailes, Nixon Campaign Staffer and now FOX News Chairman
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." -- Winston Churchill (attributed)
"I remember when, I remember I remember when I lost my mind There was something so pleasant about that place Even your emotions have an echo in so much space And when you're out there without care Yeah, I was out of touch But it wasn't because I didn't know enough I just knew too much Does that make me crazy? Possibly" -- Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy"
"There's nothing on it worthwhile, and we're not going to watch it in this household, and I don't want it in your intellectual diet." -- Kent Farnsworth summaraizing his father Philo Farnsworth's view on the device he invented: the television
"To invent out of knowledge means to produce inventions that are true. Every man should have a built-in automatic crap detector operating inside him. It also should have a manual drill and a crank handle in case the machine breaks down. If you're going to write, you have to find out what's bad for you. Part of that you learn fast, and then you learn what's good for you." -- Ernest Hemingway
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the bones." -- Proverbs 17:22
"While it is true that many people simply can't afford to pay more for food, either in money or time or both, many more of us can. After all, just in the last decade or two we've somehow found the time in the day to spend several hours on the Internet and the money in the budget not oly to pay for broadband service, but to cover a second phone bill and a new monthly bill for television, formerly free. For the majority of Americans, spending more for better food is less a matter of ability than priority." -- Michael Pollan
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." -- Thomas Jefferson to Charles Yancey, 1816
"The great lie politicians like me tell people like you is 'vote for me and I'll solve all your problems.' The truth is, you have the power." -- Governor Howard Dean
Dedication
To my dad, Ray Johnson. When he and my mom dropped me off for college, he told me that there were three lessons he'd learned from many decades of practicing psychiatry: 1. Don't jump in anybody else's drama 2. Always believe in yourself 3. Don't believe everything you think. Talk about a healthy information diet.
First words
When I saw the cardboard sign -- which displayed what had to be the craziest seven words I'd seen in a long time -- I knew I had to quite my job.
Quotations
Last words
Without stealing too much from President Obama, I'd like to suggest that we are the wonks we've been waiting for.
This is a softcover version of the title released in 2011; there is no new material. The modern human animal spends upwards of 11 hours out of every 24 in a state of constant consumption. Not eating, but gorging on information ceaselessly spewed from the screens and speakers we hold dear. Just as we have grown morbidly obese on sugar, fat, and flour ?so, too, have we become gluttons for texts, instant messages, emails, RSS feeds, downloads, videos, status updates, and tweets. We're all battling a storm of distractions, buffeted with notifications and tempted by tasty tidbits of information. And just as too much junk food can lead to obesity, too much junk information can lead to cluelessness. The Information Diet shows you how to thrive in this information glut ?what to look for, what to avoid, and how to be selective. In the process, author Clay Johnson explains the role information has played throughout history, and why following his prescribed diet is essential for everyone who strives to be smart, productive, and sane. In The Information Diet , you will: Discover why eminent scholars are worried about our state of attention and general intelligence Examine how today ?s media ?Big Info ?give us exactly what we want: content that confirms our beliefs Learn to take steps to develop data literacy, attention fitness, and a healthy sense of humor Become engaged in the economics of information by learning how to reward good information providers Just like a normal, healthy food diet, The Information Diet is not about consuming less ?it ?s about finding a healthy balance that works for you
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