Herbert Simon - What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention
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Welcome to The Daily Quote—a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a positive way. I'm your host, Andrew McGivern, and today is October 20th
Now, before you check the 57 new notifications on your phone, let’s take a moment to celebrate an appropriately timed holiday: Information Overload Day. Yes, it’s a real thing, and it’s the one day a year where we can admit that our brains are probably running on the digital equivalent of 25 browser tabs—19 of which we’ve forgotten why we opened.
Information Overload Day is a reminder that, in the age of constant connectivity, we’re swimming in an ocean of emails, social media posts, and endless scrolls of content. And sometimes, it feels like we’re just trying not to drown.
That brings me to today’s quote, which is by Herbert Simon, an American economist, political scientist, and Nobel laureate. He once said:
"What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention."
Let’s unpack that. Simon’s pointing out that all this information—whether it’s news headlines, your friend's latest Instagram post, or that random article you just had to read about "the 10 cutest dog breeds"—isn’t free. Sure, we don’t pay with money, but we pay with something far more valuable: our attention.
But before we go any further here... I want to point out that Simon made this observation back in 1971 (the year I was born), and back then there were no cell phones, insta, snap or TikTok. A lot has happened since then and the world is a heck of a lot more distracting now.
And if we’re being honest, attention is in short supply these days. We’ve got so much information flying at us that it’s like trying to catch a tennis ball in a hailstorm. Simon’s point is simple but profound: when we’re overloaded with information, we end up spreading our attention so thin that it feels like we don’t really have any left to give.
It’s funny, isn’t it? We live in a time where we have more knowledge at our fingertips than at any other point in human history, and yet it feels like we can barely focus on anything for more than five minutes without getting distracted. Maybe that’s why we can’t remember the names of the 12 articles we read yesterday… or the names of the 12 people we met yesterday for that matter.
On this Information Overload Day, maybe it’s worth asking yourself: where’s your attention going? Are you giving it to the things that really matter to you, or are you caught in that endless loop of distraction?
Of course, this is easier said than done. Cutting back on the constant barrage of information feels almost impossible sometimes. But even if you can’t tune out the world completely, maybe you can start by taking back just a little bit of your time today. Turn off your phone for an hour. Shut down your email. Or even—dare I say it—ignore that push notification you just got. Trust me, whatever it is can probably wait.
So, as we wrap up today’s episode, remember: Information isn’t the enemy. But how we manage it is key. As Simon suggested, if we’re not careful, all that info can leave us with a poverty of attention—and no one needs that.
That’s it for today’s episode. Thanks for joining me on The Daily Quote. I hope you’ve got something to think about—and maybe even a little motivation to step back from the information flood, at least for a moment.
Until next time, I’m Andrew McGivern, reminding you to guard your attention like the valuable resource it is. Have a focused, fulfilling day ahead!