information overload

Whenever I get that stab of feeling like there's too many ideas to explore, too many books to read, too little time to do it in, I remind myself not to turn to productivity systems, efficiency improvements and the like, but to knowledge sharing and communities of practice, and remind myself that you don't need to know it all, knowing things is not just an individual pursuit but a collective endeavour.

If we look from a hierarchical perspective there is a need for having all available information at your disposal. It is what keeps you on top of it all. The usage of the term information overload implies a hierarchical situation. Taking the emergence perspective, information overload dissolves into nothingness: it is not about the individual information items, it’s about the overall shapes and patterns they in combination convey, which you should be alert to.

– The Emergence of Blogging