Neil Postman, who taught Communications at New York University wrote a book, Amusing Ourselves To Death. He noted that people feared that government would censor information and keep people uninformed. But the opposite happened. People are overwhelmed with information making if difficult as reported here to wade through the flood of papers and information. It is not easy to sort out which information is reliable. Not mentioned in this brief essay is a fact that academics, consultants and researchers earn money doing studies. In view of the elevated status of such professions under the elitists who rule the U.S. there will only be more and more studies. One area in which the government requires studies before taxpayer funding is granted is how to end homelessness. Cities and towns are required to submit their ten year plan to resolve the problem. As long as they submit a paper they get the funds. No need to actually make a dent in the homeless population, only to submit a study. No need for it to be practical. Add that requirement to all areas of study and you see what exacerbates the issue.
[From article]
It is also noted that the attention decays over time, not only because novelty fades, but also because the human capacity to pay attention to new content is limited,” the study explains.
The conclusion states that due to the exponential growth of these publications scholars “forget” papers more easily now than in the past, sometimes making it harder to isolate the most relevant information.
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2015/03/12/study-finds-there-are-too-many-studies/
Study Finds There Are Too Many Studies
March 12, 2015 5:13 PM
CBS News Sacramento CA
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