How to avoid becoming an "electronic hamster"?
In the digital age, the term "electronic hamster" has gradually become popular.
Describe people who habitually hoard digital content without tidying up.
For example, favorites are full of unread articles
I didn't read the tutorials, especially since the materials are rarely used again.
This behavior reflects an anxious state of mind that sees information and saves it first, even if there is no time or interest to digest it.
In short, the behavior of the "electronic hamster" is almost manifested in the aimless storage of digital information, often resulting in information overload that cannot be effectively managed and reviewed.
This may seem like hamster-like behavior and is known as digital hoarding.
There are two main reasons for this behavior:
One is the human instinct to collect, just like hoarding physical items, and storing information online costs little or too much effort;
The second is self-driven learning awareness, many digital resources such as courses and books can stimulate the desire to learn, and people will save them before considering them.
It is common for people to stock up on items in the sense that they might be useful in the future, or to seek psychological comfort.
At the same time,"Missing out on anxiety"(fear of missing out), which also leads to the accumulation of people for fear of missing out, and eventually leads to information overload.
This is not a new problem, indexing digital resources is the traditional approach, but now we have an easier strategy for dealing with digital hoarding.
American columnist Michael Simmons spent 5 years studying self-made billionaires, including how they access knowledge and information.
Based on these observations, he conducted in-depth research and came up with a set of recommendations for dealing with digital hoarding.
He proposed that there was a hierarchy of information and knowledge.
High-level information deserves to be studied and saved in depth, while low-level information is simply skimmed.
At the bottom is social**, where he believes that the chances of getting high-quality information are low, and the content is often improvised by the author and lacks thoughtfulness.
Comparatively, books are more valuable.
A book condenses the essence of the author's thinking for many years, and what is more valuable is the summary of the book, which refines the core content.
The domain summary is more comprehensive and condenses the main points of an area.
The most valuable thing is the thinking model, which is not only applicable to one field, but can also be applied across fields, such as the "28 rule" that is common in many fields.
In product R&D investment, 20% investment often brings 80% results.
80% of the results are often caused by 20% of the factors.
Observations show that the same twenty-eight distribution applies in the richest 20 percent, where 20 percent control 80 percent of wealth, an example of Simmons' taxonomy.
Based on my experience sifting through information, it can be roughly divided into three levels:
The first layer is the new answer.
The problem is a cliché, but the new knowledge provides an excellent solution.
For example, in response to the long-term problem of obesity, a new ** has recently emerged.
The second layer is new problems, with the development of society, the emergence of new problems, the renewal of social issues, for us to think about the world provides a new perspective.
The third layer, the new classification.
For example, the rise of GPT in 2023 has brought new challenges to several industries, such as how to work with AI.
The opportunities brought about by AI and the reshaping of new knowledge classifications.
For example, advances in cancer understanding require new taxonomies.
Originally 10. Cancer is named according to the location of the disease, such as liver cancer, lung cancer, etc.
With the deepening of understanding, it is now reclassified according to pathological features20.
Later, in order to improve the ** effect, it is necessary to further study the characteristic gene variants of cancer cells.
Target"With the introduction of the concept, the classification of cancer has evolved to 3Version 0, including three elements: location, pathology and target, this change marks that cancer** has entered the era of precision medicine.
The three levels of new knowledge: new answers, new questions, and new classifications.
As you go deeper into the layer, the amount of information contained becomes more and more, and it takes more time to understand this knowledge.
Simmons also proposes a more concise method of knowledge screening:
Focus only"Breakthrough knowledge", i.e., knowledge that can subvert your preconceived notions.
The true value of knowledge lies in challenging and revising our ideas, not simply validating them.
Simmons argues that a counterexample is worth far more than countless proofs, and that for individuals, pointing out errors is more valuable than confirming that they are correct.
Let's go back to the basics of learning, which is often a by-product of the realization that old ideas no longer apply.
A strong impulse drives us to seek the truth, prompting learning to happen naturally.
Our relationship with external information is interactive, not one-way, and this interaction can solve the problem of information hoarding.
Therefore, it is actually very rare for ordinary people to maintain a humble mentality, but to learn with the mentality of winemaking, every time you encounter something new to join, it is regarded as your own thoughts, so when screening high-quality knowledge, you can consider these three levels:
Does this knowledge belong to a new answer, a new question, or a new classification?
Because the breadth and depth of information often increases with these categories!