Saturday, November 3, 2007

Freedom to Browse

"Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense."
-- Gertrude Stein

I'm always looking for quotes from women since most of the web (and print) collections are dominated by men. I also look for quotes on learning that are relevant to my work in training. But sometimes the search for the right uplifting, thought-provoking, entertaining, or at least relevant quote becomes such a time sink that I have to let it go.

For example, I went looking for something for my previous post, Freedom to Learn and Play. My search spread, intermittently, over a few days and took me to several sites with quotes by women:
Four days later my browsing and searching had led me, by a delightfully circuitous route, to this quote:
"We are not what we know but what we are willing to learn."
-- Mary Catherine Bateson

But not before I'd spent hours reading blogs such as Beth's Blog on social media for nonprofits, watched a few educational videos, signed up for Sloodle, browsed a Second Life virtual bookstore, and grazed many other sites including a LifeHack article Learn Something New Every Day that tempted me with links to more great sites.

I suppose that roundabout journey could be considered "losing my common sense" as Gertrude described. But I had so much fun and learned so much (Sloodle!) that it could as easily be considered "coming to my senses." Still, Gertrude's quote describes modern information overload so well that it's hard to believe she died in 1946. And to get the hang of blogging I may have to start partitioning my reading time from my writing.

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