The Age of the Infovore

The title and opening quote of this book first caught my attention.

The Age of the Infovore: Succeeding in the Information Economy, by Tyler Cowen and "What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Unknown Source

I thought the book's focus was on learning styles, in general, but the actual focus was more broadly on autism and Asperger's syndrome, as a comparison to our ways of accumulating information nowadays. There are some excellent quotes and ideas.

Please find some that I found of interest:

Ordering and manipulating information is useful, fun, alternately intense and calming, and it helps us plumb the philosophic depths (p. 3)

I would like to consider three stylized facts about today's world and put them together into a single coherent vision. The facts are the following: Culture is much cheaper and more accessible than before; we engage in more and more cultural sampling; and many intelligent people complain about how ugly contemporary culture has become. (p. 41)

I think of my blend as one very good way of absorbing information from the outside world, but it would be a mistake to elevate the informational purposes of the blend (however important) over the emotional import and the sense of connection. Most of all I think of my blend as an assembled set of stories and am assembled set of information packages. The blend is about writers I read, the public figures I read about, broader intellectual narratives about the world, and indirectly stories about my own self-discovery. To me the blend offers the ultimate in interest and suspense. Call me an addict if you wish, but if I am torn away from these stories for even a day I am keen to get back to "the next episode," so to speak. (pgs. 51-52)

Adam Smith, in his 1759 book on moral psychology, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, suggested that we enjoy and value an experience more if it took more self-command and more sacrifice to bring it about. (p. 81)

The reality is that most education requires the physical presence of other human beings. (p. 113)

...we need to overcome some of our cognitive biases. That's right, a lot of the problems of politics stem from human cognition. It's not always a question of strengthening "the good guys" who are fighting "the bad guys." We all tend to think we are the good guys more often than we really are. We fight when we should give in, we stick to our guns when we should change our mind, and we do not realize that we are sometimes part of the problem rather than the solution. If we are to improve politics, we need to help ourselves overcome these biases. (p. 193)

The final message of this book is about respect for the individual. The study of human neurology is important science, but it is not just science and it is not just a tool for diagnosis or medical intervention. It is also a path toward appreciating the diversity of the human spirit, the splendor of the individual mind, and the importance of respecting the individuality of each mind. (p.222)