Attention Deficit

The Ultimate Distracted Driving Guide: What It Is & How to Prevent ...

Herbert Simon, a Carnegie Mellon professor, has an insightful observation regarding the myriad information at our fingertips. He said, “Information consumes the attention of its recipients. A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.”

The concern Simon has is that we neglect to manage the information and knowledge to which we have unprecedented access. Our attention is spread so thin that we are not effective with any of it. Add to that the misinformation that also inundates us, and our attention is soon impoverished indeed.

In short, we are plagued by a lack of focus. As our attention becomes scattered, the information we possess becomes impotent without the proper energy and intensity behind it. Just like the nail-file/flashlight/toothbrush/can opener/shoehorn combo tool you can only buy in a Skymall catalog, by engaging too many tasks, we are effective in none of them.

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