E-Mail Overload & The Singularity

Discover magazine talks with Verner Vinge in the July issue (When Computers Meld With Our Minds):

Is your overflowing e-mail in-box a herald of the next stage in human evolution? Those e-mails represent just a small sample of the vast amount of digital information being generated by the gigabyte every minute. If we can cope with this rising flood of information, we are likely to be on track for using technology in the creation of superhuman intelligence, according to Vernor Vinge, futurist, best-selling science fiction author, and retired professor of computer science.

So, getting a ton of e-mail is a good thing? I feel so much better now that I'm part of the revolution, don't you?

Comments

[Nathan Zeldes]

"If we can cope with this rising flood of information"... But of course we can't; the problem of information overload, and especially email overload, is causing incalculable damage to the productivity and quality of life of Knowledge Workers everywhere; and the impact on people's ability to think, to take time for reflection and creativity, is getting worse and worse.

Some of the research can be seen on the web site of the Information Overload Research Group, http://www.iorgforum.org .

[Joel]

Nathan, thanks for your comment, I'm comforted knowing that people are researching information overload - there is hope!