The Overflowing Brain: Information Overload And The Limits Of Working Memory (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
This is a digest of information about the capacity and limits of the human brain. Our brains were designed for an environment where demands of information retrieval and manipulation were much more limited than today. We are using these "stone age brains" to deal with an incredible flood of information.In 1994, I was struck by the scene in the film version of "Little Women" where Laurie receives the day's communication: his butler delivers a letter on a plate. This was just as I was starting to receive action items by not just mail and phone, but also fax, voice-mail and a few cyber communications from email pioneers.Torkel Klingberg examines how the brain... the same brain as Laurie with the single letter delivered on a tray... is managing all of this. One advantage: the average brain of today has a higher IQ. It has been rising, at least since 1900, in countries such as Israel, Belgium, Norway, Holland and the US at the rate of 3% a decade. It is interesting that while problem solving ability has risen, there is no evidence that vocabulary and other knowledge acquisition components have.This is a short pithy book. For its size a lot is devoted to the differences in working and long term memory. It is clear and precise regarding the research and its strengths and limitations on what can potentially enhance working memory which is the portal to long term memory.Klingberg discusses the issues surrounding memory enhancing and repressing drugs which are currently in development. He does not speculate about the people of third world nations where IQ may or may not be rising to meet this challenge. He does not discuss evolutionary adaptations that may or may not be happening or anticipated. He produces a solid book on limited but solid ground. I've been thinking about this concept of brain overload as a result of exponential advancements in technology for awhile now and wanting to explore the subject more in-depth. As a reporter, I definitely feel overwhelmed at times and burdened by the seeming obligation to keep up and be knowlegeable in nearly every facet of life. But having such expectations are unrealistic for anyone, really, and one can easily feel ineffective when their energies are spread too thin. Sometimes it's just too much.
What do You think about The Overflowing Brain: Information Overload And The Limits Of Working Memory (2008)?
Kind of dull at the beginning but gets better the last few chapters.
—MimiRocks4Eva
Beautifully writen..Now back to the n-back gym...
—rcowan
