#mental-model #philosophy #knowledge #information ![[Information]] <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0gJo51xeiMU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> # What is noise? **Noise** is [[Information]] that does not align with with goals. Did hunter gatherer received plenty of information from some rectangular, hand-sized piece of weird material? We live in an age of abundance, whether it be in information, food, everything. However more is not more, eating 3,4,5 times a day won't make you more energetic, quite the opposite, reading all the news, reading 10 books a day, won't make you a genius. The brain is like a computer it has limited RAM and CPU, it needs some time to process information and transform it into [[Philosophy/Epistemology/Knowledge]]. Most of digital content is **noise**, i.e. it reduces your knowledge, (good) books are a secure source of knowledge, especially those that have passed the test of time, i.e. [[Philosophy/Rationality/Models/Lindy Effect]]-proof books. The Internet is not evil though, some places have great information, such as [Farnam Street](https://fs.blog/). # How to protect yourself from noise? - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?hl=en&id=cz.mobilesoft.appblock - Airplane mode - Destroy your phone (have no phone) - Have no apps - Only install app when you need it - Go in the forest ([[Thoreau]]) - Have a bit of [[Will]], if you need assistant to protect yourself from noise, how would you react when the assistant is not there? *Have no assistant* ~[[Nassim Taleb]] - Be anti social 😉 # ~ >Most men, even in this comparatively free country, through mere ignorance and mistake, are so occupied with the factitious cares and superfluously coarse labors of life that its finer fruits cannot be plucked by them. ~ [[Thoreau]] # **Noise** reduces [[Philosophy/Mind/Intelligence|intelligence]] When you are full of **noise**, you performance in intellectual tasks reduces. # External links https://fermatslibrary.com/s/a-wandering-mind-is-an-unhappy-mind