INFORMATION OVERLOAD
(image: http://www.trendsspotting.com/blog/?p=328)
In December 2009 I wrote an article on the it fits! blog: “Information overload or insight” http://itfits4freshviews.wordpress.com/2009/12/23/information-overload-or-insight/ .
According to the amount of hits I still get every day, we don’t seem to have mastered the information overload in the meantime.
In 2009 I was asking myself if someone had to read everything to stay informed. Might it just be a combination of reading (blogs, magazines ... books), discussing with friends and colleagues, simply having a coffee in the park or ride a bike around town? ... Even visiting your mum could sometimes bring you more ideas than following the latest trend: “social media is out” - “gamification: materializing the virtual world is in”, “consuming is out” - “experiencing is in” ...
It might be true that consuming is not on the top of our priority list anymore: preferring a glass of wine on a Saturday afternoon, rather than carrying twenty shopping bags ... yet, does this knowledge bring us the understanding needed to envision the near future? Shouldn’t we try to get the overall picture, how to restructure our society instead of maintaining one that is long overdue?
It fits! just started this blog Full Insight, aiming to find a balance between information and insight. Because, let’s face it we can be very conceptual, claiming society’s structure is transforming from a linear organization to a random, more chaotic one, but we need to make a living on the short term also.
Bosses or clients don’t like uncertainty! As a trend forecaster you create a view on the future with a structure and preferably with a timeline!
The culture shift we are experiencing at this moment is so strong that unfortunately all of us will have to open up for changes in life that used to be beyond our comprehension.
Therefore once again I would like to say: Let's take time to understand about order where there is chaos, yet without trying to control the disorder. Let’s try to feel and live virtuality rather than transform it into a new "real" life. Embrace the unknown and insecurity, while opting for a multidimensional future: there is not one truth in the same way there are not two human characters identical.