2007-09-10T10:04:00.001-07:00

We're in the midst of an information explosion.
...and we are falling behind.

We are producing information at a rate never before seen in history.

The world is suffering from information overload, the problem of having too much information. A person dealing with information overload has difficulty finding information that's relevant to help them make decisions.

Information overload leads to information anxiety, a term coined by Richard Saul Wurman:

Information anxiety: A condition "produced by the ever widening gap between what we understand and what we think we should understand... the black hole between data and knowledge... when information doesn't tell us what we want or need to know.

The cost of workplace interruptions has been estimated at $650 billion, and it's growing.

Einstein said "We cannot solve problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."

We can't solve problems in isolated "thinking silos" anymore -- we need to understand system dynamics and complex interrelationships. We need a more holistic way to comprehend our world.

In short, we need to evolve our thinking.

We propose a new discipline:

Infography: The study, process and practice of visualizing information to improve the quality, legibility and clarity of thought and communication.

Testing 1-2-3

FACTS

We are producing more information per year than ever before in human history. In 2002 we produced five exabytes, equivalent to 37,000 times the information contained in the U.S. Library of Congress.

The rate at which we are producing information is increasing. Researchers at Berkeley University estimate the rate of increase at 30% per year.

THESES
Signers and comments

Visual thinking leads to discovery. Friedrich Kekule discovered the benzene ring in a dream of a snake biting its own tail. Visualization has led to major discoveries by Galileo, Da Vinci, Newton and countless others.

Visual thinking can increase your capacity to explore, understand, synthesize and convey information. The capacity of auditory working memory is estimated at 2 seconds. The capacity of visual working memory is unknown. It has also been demonstrated that visual memory can be improved with practice.

The Infography Manifesto