Too much to know
by Ann Blair · first published 2010
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The flood of information brought to us by advancing technology is often accompanied by a distressing sense of 'information overload', yet this experience is not unique to modern times. In fact, says Ann Blair in this intriguing book, the invention of the printing press and the ensuing abundance of books provoked sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European scholars to register complaints very similar to our own. The author examines methods of information management in ancient and medieval Europe as well as the Islamic world and China, then focuses particular attention on the organization, compo
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…That's my list of sources from those that I have so far. I would say start with: * The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen (This is a fast micro history that hits the highlights.) * Too Much To Know: Managing Scholarly Information Before the Modern Age by Ann M. Blair (She is a scholar that has a lot on the subject.) * Forgetting Machines: Knowledge Management Evolution in Early Modern Europe by…
on “Ask HN: What did you find out or explore today?” ↗Old problem. The book "Too Much to Know" by Ann Blair is about how intellectuals dealt with information overload in early modern Europe: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300165395/too-much-know
on “The Collector’s Fallacy” ↗Richard Yeo (2014) Notebooks, English Virtuosi, and Early Modern Science Ann Blair (2010) Too Much to Know: Managing Scholarly Information Before the Modern Age
on “On Keeping Sketchbooks” ↗…government statistical poverty levels, but in terms of orientation toward the future, or time preference. I can't say I ever heard such an idea so clearly stated before. I still haven't dug into the argument too much to know one way or another or be able to offer much in way of a critique, but it's caught my eye and attention enough to make it a reading TODO.
on “Cities Experiment with Remedy for Poverty: Cash, No Strings Attached” ↗I like to say programming is about knowing which rabbit holes to plunge down and which to step over. There's too much to know to go depth-first down every rabbit hole. Go breadth first and accept gaps in your knowledge - everyone has them. If something never comes up and never causes an issue you need to look into, and the project…
on “The curse of knowing how, or; fixing everything” ↗…many facets to this topic here's a list that I have read or am going to read. * The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen * The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin * Too Much To Know: Managing Scholarly Information Before the Modern Age by Ann M. Blair * Communicating with Slip Boxes: An Empirical Account by Niklas Luhmann * Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design * Writing the Laboratory…
on “Ask HN: What did you find out or explore today?” ↗