4 ms·

If he actually said this in 1971, hats off to him. That's an amazing prediction. Internet and the personal computer (information-rich) became popular after 1970

If he actually said this in 1971, hats off to him. That's an amazing prediction. Internet and the personal computer (information-rich) became popular after 1970s, so predicting attention scarcity before that is very prescient. The cynic in me says that hundreds of people guessed about computer's future in 1970s that some of them are bound to be right. But Simon's prediction seems genuinely amazing.

itisit 4y ago
It’s not prescient when one is recognizing an issue already present.
maxerickson 4y ago
Even without computers there was an overwhelming amount of information available in 1970. (well, computers for access, I guess they had some impact on publishing and such by then)
bombcar 4y ago
There were people in the 1800s complaining that newspapers sucked too much time and weren't useful.
- neuronic 4y ago
  Let me drift off a bit. I want to mention that not 100% of our time needs to be spent on something "useful". While it's something everyone needs to define for themselves, recovery and enjoying life outside of what is deemed "productive" is also very much important. I am writing this because I have personally been affected (as bystander) if people don't take this seriously. For Germany, I can say that in recent years, health insurances are reporting a very significant increase in burn-out cases which easily take months of recovery and are a very significant problem in the economy with high financial impact on both society and individual lives. Maybe it has to do with the type of work we do nowadays, or it has simply become more acceptable to openly tackle this issue instead of hiding or dismissing it. I don't know. But I have personally witnessed several people (!) go through this and it's terrible. Hiding it doesn't mean it isn't there and ruining lives behind the scenes. The 1800s was a different situation altogether and time-wise probably one of the worst periods to be alive as working class. 10-16 hour workdays, repetitive and physically demanding work, no rights and barely any medical attention. I am very certain that people didn't just "toughen" that out, it had to come at a very high cost.
deleted 4y ago
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itisit 4y ago

It’s not prescient when one is recognizing an issue already present.

maxerickson 4y ago

Even without computers there was an overwhelming amount of information available in 1970. (well, computers for access, I guess they had some impact on publishing and such by then)

bombcar 4y ago

There were people in the 1800s complaining that newspapers sucked too much time and weren't useful.

neuronic 4y ago
Let me drift off a bit. I want to mention that not 100% of our time needs to be spent on something "useful". While it's something everyone needs to define for themselves, recovery and enjoying life outside of what is deemed "productive" is also very much important. I am writing this because I have personally been affected (as bystander) if people don't take this seriously. For Germany, I can say that in recent years, health insurances are reporting a very significant increase in burn-out cases which easily take months of recovery and are a very significant problem in the economy with high financial impact on both society and individual lives. Maybe it has to do with the type of work we do nowadays, or it has simply become more acceptable to openly tackle this issue instead of hiding or dismissing it. I don't know. But I have personally witnessed several people (!) go through this and it's terrible. Hiding it doesn't mean it isn't there and ruining lives behind the scenes. The 1800s was a different situation altogether and time-wise probably one of the worst periods to be alive as working class. 10-16 hour workdays, repetitive and physically demanding work, no rights and barely any medical attention. I am very certain that people didn't just "toughen" that out, it had to come at a very high cost.

deleted 4y ago

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