Is it normal to drown?

Given the depth of discussion in my previous post, is it normal to feel like I’m drowning in information? Trying to find a system that actually works for the retrieval of information adds so much additional information. Let’s chat about that.

Looking back at all the textbooks that I had to study, all the notes that I made, all the practice problems that I did (as I sit in the same posture that I did while studying: on the floor, in the sitting room, with the coffee table as my work space, and the ground as my archive), I reminisce about what I’ve learned and forgotten.

I realise that every single detail that I forgot was once perfectly situated in my mind. The paper was just a tool I used to organise the details. A tool of the “show your work” of studying. Now, I use this newsletter to “show my work”, even if the work is thought only.

It is normal to feel like you’re drowning in information. That is the nature of the field that I have chosen to build my career on. But, drowning only occurs when action is not coordinated to facilitate the contrary. So, how do I coordinate actions? The first step is to consider the situation. The second is to assess it. The third is to make a decision toward an outcome. Then actions are chosen to coordinate toward the outcome.

Linearity of time

The information itself is always presented linearly. Humans are stuck (or blessed) in a linear time condition. We can only have a single second at a time. And in preparation for lectures and teaching, information very often is presented in a format that disallows for multi-dimensionality in perception. With this I mean, textbooks have headings, introductory paragraphs, subheadings, detailed paragraphs, examples, conclusions. Lectures have introductions and conclusions if they’re prepared well. And bodies running through one subheading at a time, on paragraph, one sentence at a time. But we like multi-dimensional presentation: we live in a 3D world!

What would happen if all the information we are supposed to go through is presented, not linearly as time would constrain it, but multi-dimensionally, as space might constrain it.. then mindmaps work, then databases with deeper and deeper levels work.

Then lectures become discussions, where speech is the only entity constrained by the linearity of time, and the PowerPoint is interesting, and aids the listener in multi-dimensional thinking. From this, the information might be easier to manage.

Dreams vs Reality

As I consider the vast amount of information that I will have to manage with my knowledge management system (that I am still ideating on), I cannot help imagining that every piece of linearly presented information will need to be multi-dimensionalised. This is such a big task, and it might turn out to be over-engineering information. OR (and this is why I’m stuck in this thought loop) it might just revolutionise the mechanical engineering industry. What if information was available in an intuitive format? So in dreaming about what this knowledge management system could be, I’m choosing the reality that I will be over-engineering it. I will be making it what I wanted to have available while I was studying.

Theory vs Practice

As is the case with medical professionals, the application of what we learn is vastly different than the theory of what we learn. It becomes not so much about the information itself, and much more about the application of the information. “Knowing this, what am I to do about it?”

And I believe, that is where the multi-dimensionality of the information becomes a superpower. The fact that information is saved, in many dimensions, in many presentations, means that a context can be created within which the information has meaning: linearity is no longer a part of the equation. Then decision-making becomes possible, then business can actually be perpetuated.

Coming up for air

Yes, this is the correct course of action: multi-dimensionalise the information. Present linear information in different formats. Do the much that you wished someone had done before. It may just be valuable.

I appreciate your time, reader.

Best,

Hannalie