Data smog :surviving the information glut

Media scholar David Shenk examines the effects of data overload on our lives, our relationships, and our culture, and offers strikingly down-to-earth insights for coping with our information infatuation.

Hailed by the New York Times as "An Indispensable guide to the big picture of technology's cultural Impact", Data Smog is the most compelling and thorough rebuttal to date of the overhyping of the Information Age.

With a skillful mixture of personal essay, firsthand re-portage, and sharp analysis, Shenk illustrates the central paradox of our time — as our world gets more complex, our responses to it become increasingly simplistic. He draws convincing links between data smog and social fragmentation, declining educational standards, political fractiousness, religious fundamentalism, and more.

But there's hope for a saner, more meaningful future, as Shenk offers a wealth of novel prescriptions — both personal and societal — for dispelling data smog.

"A concise, insightful, and welcome critique of the communications world we have created". — Chicago Tribune

"Four-star rating... well argued, witty and tightly written...crisply argued books like this can help us see the future more clearly". — Detroit Free Press

Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-242) and index.

The laws of data smog — Spammed! — The black shakes — Skeptical in Seattle — "A new generation of geniuses" — The Thunderbird problem — Paralysis by analysis — Stat wars — The two-by-four effect — Village of Babel — A nation of lonely molecules — Superdemocracy — Creatures from the Info Lagoon — Dataveillance — Anecdotage — The end of journalism? — March of the cyber-Republicans — What then must be done? — Be your own filter — Be your own editor — Simplify — De-nichify — Don't forsake government; help improve it — Appendix: How to get off junk mail/phone lists.