Thriving on Overload: The 5 Powers for Success in a World of Exponential Information

Frameworks or maps generate understanding by capturing the conceptual connections we see, which in turn help us see other important relationships. They are not just tools for sense-making; they also help us improve how we filter, allocate our attention, and develop useful knowledge.

Of particular interest to us is openness to experience. This can also be framed as openness to new information: our ability to adapt by noticing that the world has changed, accepting rather than rejecting relevant signals, and as a result, changing our outlook, opinions, and actions. In a swiftly evolving world, people who are less open to new info

Mark Beeman, whom you will meet again later in this book, explain that “we continuously build mental models of the world around us—our boxes—to help predict what will happen next. Any deviation from these expectations causes a group of neurons to shout in synchrony to signal that something is different, unexpected, or just wrong. And those brainwav

you need to establish a consistent set of portals and habits that support your objectives. These will include daily routines as well as some sources accessed less regularly.

When you seek to identify whether information serves you well, the most important consideration is if it enhances your mental models. You must be highly aware of whether information fits with your current thinking. Identifying data that supports your thinking is natural and can be useful. However, you also need to seek the most interesting evidence

changed the neural circuitry in their brains to produce highly specialized mental representations, which in turn make possible the incredible memory, pattern recognition, problem-solving, and other sorts of advanced abilities needed to excel in their particular specialties,”

It will usually be more useful to select more specific frames, such as capturing the core ideas of hybrid work, clarifying important concepts such as scalable learning, or understanding the dynamics of how to attract and retain talented employees.

An increasing proportion of people never turn to a specific news site or broadcast program to find out what’s going on in the world. They find relevant news through social media, news aggregators, or their friends sharing links with them. Academics describe the phenomenon of not actively seeking news as the News Finds Me (NFM) perception.

In the internet and social media age the amount of “noise,” which essentially means information with zero value, has soared exponentially, far beyond the amount of “signal,” referring to information of value.

scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas.