# Navigating Information Landscapes

—Directing Attention and Shaping Beliefs

## Introduction

More information is available today than at any other time in history, yet our capacity to direct attention, avoid distractions, absorb information, evaluate credibility, and learn remains largely unchanged from thousands of years ago.
Learning to navigate today’s vast information landscapes can help take charge of how you spend your time, direct your attention, and form beliefs.
In today’s fast-paced world, attention might be the most precious resource. Despite the abundance of information, it’s attention that’s scarce, making it highly valuable. As you navigate through information landscapes, make sure to direct your attention wisely.

## Objectives

The primary goal of this course is to assist students in effectively navigating the overwhelming amount of information available in our current digital and traditional media environment.

## Orientation

This course has no prerequisites, and all students are welcome. Several companion courses are available that can help students gain additional background or bolster their understanding of various concepts and techniques useful in navigating information landscapes. These include:
* Facing Facts — Embracing Reality
* Evaluating Journalism Standards — Seeking reliable information sources
* Understanding Misbelief — Avoiding nonsense
* Intellectual Honesty — Accurately communicating true beliefs
* Virtues/Good Faith – The virtue of truthfulness
* Forming Beliefs — Evaluating what you accept as true
* Knowing how you know
* Seeking True Beliefs —Excellence in the Quest for Knowledge
* Evaluating Evidence — Seeking Reality
* Navigating Social Proof — Going along to get along
* Information literacy and researching skills
Study these companion courses any time they may be helpful. Specific companion course suggestions appear in relevant sections throughout this course.
The course contains many hyperlinks to further information. Use your judgment and these link following guidelines to decide when to follow a link, and when to skip over it.

### Characterizing Information

Information is broadly defined as something that has the power to inform. Technical definitions indicate that information is extensive—adding information sources increases the total amount of information. Furthermore, information reduces uncertainty.
Today we are flooded with information from many sources and we face decisions on what to pay attention to, and what to believe. We are drawn to information that is available, interesting and relevant. It is also essential to evaluate informationfor its accuracy and objectivity.

## Information Through the Ages

Information has been the cornerstone of human progress, shaping how we understand, communicate, and interact with the world. From prehistoric oral traditions to the digital age, the ways humans create, store, and share information have evolved dramatically.
As information has evolved from oral traditions to today’s recommender system-powered social media, our capacity to direct attention, avoid distractions, absorb information, evaluate credibility, and learn remains largely unchanged from thousands of years ago.
As a result, it is important that we improve our skills in navigating information landscapes.

### Assignment

Read the essay A Brief History of Information Throughout the Ages.

## Information Overload

The abundance of information available today often leads to information overload. Paradoxically, more available information can make it more difficult to make wise decisions.
The advent of modern information technology has been a primary driver of information overload in several ways: the sheer quantity of information produced, its ease of dissemination, and the vast reach of its audience. Longstanding technological factors have been further amplified by the rise of social media, particularly the attention economy, which facilitates the theft of attention. In the age of interconnected digital technologies, informatics, the Internet culture, and information overload are associated with excessive exposure, excessive viewing of information, and an abundance of information and data.
The general causes of information overload include:
* Journalism of assertion, characterized by a rapidly increasing rate of new information production, has emerged as a dominant news culture. This culture places a premium on the speed of news publication, leading to a competitive advantage in news reporting. However, this emphasis on speed also compromises the quality of news stories.
* The ease of duplication and transmission of data across the Internet.
* An increase in the available channels of incoming information (e.g. telephone, email, instant messaging, RSS)
* Ever-increasing amounts of historical information to view.
* Contradictions and inaccuracies in available information, which is connected to misinformation.
* A low signal-to-noise ratio.
* A lack of a method for comparing and processing different kinds of information.
* The pieces of information are unrelated or do not have any overall structure to reveal their relationships.
Coping with information overload requires a multifaceted approach that combines technology, critical thinking, mindfulness, and intentional habits. By filtering and prioritizing information, adopting digital minimalism, and leveraging tools and systems, individuals can regain control over their mental space and focus on what truly matters. Ultimately, managing information effectively is not just about avoiding stress—it's about creating the mental clarity needed to think deeply, make better decisions, and engage meaningfully with the world.

### Assignment

* Read the essay Approaches to Coping with Information Overload.
* Cope effectively with information overload.

## Finding Information

Information must be found before we can engage with it. If we are focused and activity seeking specific information to answer a question, learn, or solve a problem, then we are deliberate and selective in what we choose to spend time on. However, often we are less deliberate while browsing or web surfing. We can get distracted by the next shiny object and allow ourselves to be attracted to clickbait, interrupted by advertisements, or doomscrolling.
Be skillful when hunting for information and beware of information that is hunting for you.

### Hunting or Hunted?

Are you actively seeking specific information relevant to completing a task, solving a problem, or meeting some goal, or is the information finding you regardless of your preferences or intentions?
Are you hunting for information, or is information hunting for you?
If you are hunting for information, then you are clear why you are seeking information and what you are seeking. You are browsing—scanning through the titles or abstracts of many articles—or searching for specific topics, titles, books, or articles.
However, if the information is hunting for you, it is helpful to be skeptical, and consider:
* Why is this information here, enticing me to pay attention to it?
* What do they have to gain by capturing my attention?
* What are they promoting?
The information offered is likely a form of advertising, promotion, propaganda, proselytizing, or other clickbait that probably found you as a result of some form of recommender system.

#### Assignment

* Read the essay Hunting or Hunted?
* When you are being hunted, stand in the gap between noticing the link and clicking on it. Choose wisely.
* Advocate for reform of Social Media Platforms.

## Characteristics of Information

When navigating information landscapes, it is important to keep in mind several characteristics of information to help you take charge of how you spend your time, direct your attention, and form beliefs.
Below we discuss availability, interest, and relevance before directing attention to evaluating information for accuracy.

### Availability

We can only access information that is available to us. If we are working to solve a problem, we often seek out information that can help us find a solution. Often, we stop looking after finding something that seems suitable. Additionally, information often finds us, and because our attention is limited, information filtering systems are always in place. Advertisements, propaganda, influencers, social media recommender systems and clickbait automatically present content intended to increase engagement and screen time.
Furthermore, each of use an availably heuristic to recall information. The availability heuristic, also known as availability bias, is a mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to mind when evaluating a specific topic, concept, method, or decision. This heuristic, operating on the notion that, if something can be recalled, it must be important, or at least more important than alternative solutions not as readily recalled, is inherently biased toward recently acquired information.
We are also all subject to confirmation bias. Confirmation is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values. People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignoring contrary information, or when they interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing attitudes. The effect is strongest for desired outcomes, for emotionally charged issues, and for deeply entrenched beliefs.
Biased search for information, biased interpretation of that information, and biased memory recall have been used to explain four distinct effects:
* attitude polarization (when a disagreement becomes more extreme even though the different parties are exposed to the same evidence)
* belief perseverance (when beliefs persist after the evidence for them is shown to be false)
* the irrational primacy effect (a greater reliance on information encountered early in a series)
* illusory correlation (when people falsely perceive an association between two events or situations).
The combined effects of recommender systems, the availability heuristic, and confirmation bias may result in algorithmic radicalization.
Algorithmic radicalization is the concept that recommender algorithms on popular social media sites such as YouTube and Facebook drive users toward progressively more extreme content over time, leading to them developing radicalized extremist political views. Algorithms record user interactions, from likes/dislikes to amount of time spent on posts, to generate endless media aimed to keep users engaged. Through echo chamber channels, the consumer is driven to be more polarized through preferences in media and self-confirmation.
Although information wants to be free, the information you want and need may be expensive or difficult to find. Direct your attention deliberately to find accurate information.

#### Assignment:

Part 1:
Pay attention to your attention. Avoid imitating the cat obsessed with chasing a laser pointer. Are you deliberately directing attention to reliable information that matters most, or are you being distracted, often maliciously, toward information that does not serve your own best interests?
* Read the essay Pay attention to your attention.
* Read the essay Amusement and Spectacle Win.
* Read the essay Facts Are Neutral, However Attention Is Biased.
* Read the essay Enragement is Engagement.
* Study the Perception module of the Wikiversity course Finding Common Ground.
* Deliberately direct your attention to important and reliable information that is relevant to what matters, even if that information is not the most readily available.
* Establish Ulysses pacts to prevent your attention from being manipulated.
** Take actions chosen from this list of Ulysses Pact Recommendations.
** Abandon social media platforms that abuse recommender systems.
** Favor print media.
Part 2:
Decide what information is worth searching for or worth paying for, and what freely available information may be exploitative.

### Interesting

We are drawn to information that we find interesting, which may occur for several reasons.
Something becomes interesting when it sparks curiosity, provokes thought, or resonates emotionally with the observer. Here are key factors that often contribute to making something interesting:
1. Novelty and Surprise
* People are naturally drawn to things that are unexpected or different from what they’ve encountered before. Novelty stimulates curiosity and activates the brain’s reward system.
* Example: A painting with unconventional colors or techniques can captivate viewers because it challenges their expectations.
2. Complexity with Accessibility
* Things that are intricate yet understandable tend to hold our attention. They strike a balance between being challenging enough to engage the mind but not so complex as to be overwhelming.
* Example: A puzzle that looks solvable but requires effort invites exploration.
3. Relevance and Relatability
* When something connects to our personal interests, goals, or experiences, we find it meaningful and compelling.
* Example: A book that addresses a dilemma you’re currently facing is more likely to engage you deeply.
4. Mystery and Ambiguity
* Questions without immediate answers or a sense of mystery invite exploration and engagement.
* Example: A movie with an ambiguous ending sparks conversations and theories.
5. Conflict or Tension
* Stories, ideas, or experiences that involve a clash of opposing forces—whether physical, emotional, or intellectual—draw us in because they create stakes and suspense.
* Example: A debate between two compelling perspectives keeps an audience glued to the discussion.
6. Emotional Resonance
* When something evokes strong emotions, whether joy, sadness, fear, anger, outrage, or awe, it creates a lasting impression and becomes interesting.
* Example: A speech or song that moves people to tears stays with them long after they’ve heard it.
7. Connection to a Bigger Picture
* Something that ties into larger themes or universal questions—like love, identity, or purpose—tends to be intriguing because it helps us make sense of the world.
* Example: A documentary linking personal stories to global issues can captivate a broad audience.
8. Challenge to Assumptions
* When something forces us to reconsider what we thought we knew, it grabs our attention and invites us to think more deeply.
* Example: A plot twist in a story or an innovative scientific discovery.
9. Skillful Presentation
* How something is delivered—whether through vivid storytelling, visual appeal, or clever structure—can make even a mundane topic fascinating.
* Example: A well-told TED Talk can make niche subjects, like data analysis, feel gripping.
10. Potential for Learning
* When something offers new insights, teaches us a skill, or expands our understanding, we’re drawn to it because it feels rewarding.
* Example: A historical account that uncovers little-known facts can engross readers.
11. Involvement or Interaction
* When people feel directly involved or that their actions influence the outcome, their interest often deepens.
* Example: An interactive exhibit in a museum encourages curiosity and engagement.

#### Assignment

* Notice what you find interesting and what you find boring.
* Are you drawn to what matters?

### Relevance

We are naturally drawn to information that we find relevant to something we regard as important. Relevance refers to the connection between different topics, which makes one topic useful in addressing the other.
Something is relevant if it helps you succeed at what you’re trying to do, and what you’re trying to do has a clear purpose or goal behind it. Stated more precisely, relevance is measured in the context of attaining some goal. This formal definition of relevance illustrates the connection:
   "Something (A) is relevant to a task (T) if it increases the likelihood of accomplishing the goal (G), which is implied by T."
Here’s a simple example that can help to grasp the formal definition.
Imagine you're trying to bake a cake (task "T"). The goal ("G") is to successfully bake a delicious cake. Something (A) is relevant if it helps you succeed in baking the cake. For example:
* A recipe is relevant because it guides you toward your goal.
* Knowing how to set the oven temperature is relevant because it increases the chance of baking the cake correctly.
However, if something doesn’t help you bake the cake—like knowing the capital city of France—it’s not relevant because it doesn’t affect your likelihood of achieving the goal.
When we are intently focused on a specific goal, it becomes clear what is relevant and what is not. However, if we are browsing, channel surfing, doomscrolling, bored, apathetic, sensation seeking, or just filling time, then the stimuli we come across, including information that finds us, may suddenly become relevant. This is especially true if we find the information interesting, entertaining, or otherwise engaging.

#### Assignment

* Focus on what matters.
* Avoid clickbait and trolls.

## Evaluating Information

Because we are flooded with information, some accurate, some not, it is helpful to be able to accurately evaluate the truth-value of information.
Once you have obtained information and decided it is interesting and relevant, it is essential to know if the information is accurate, objective, independent of conflicts of interest, and other concerns.

### Assignment

* Study the Wikiversity Course Evaluating Information.
* Critically evaluate the information you assimilate.

## Recommended Reading

Students who are interested in learning more about navigating information landscapes may wish to read these books:
* The Chaos Machine, by Max Fisher. ISBN 978-0316703321
* Snyder, Timothy (2024). On freedom (First edition ed.). New York: Crown. ISBN 978-0-593-72872-7.
* Galef, Julia (2021). The scout mindset: why some people see things clearly and others don't. New York: Portfolio. ISBN 978-0-7352-1756-0.
I have not yet read the following books, but they seem interesting and relevant. They are listed here to invite further research.
* Hayes, Christopher (2025). The sirens' call: how attention became the world's most endangered resource. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 978-0-593-65311-1.