"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing," warns the ancient aphorism. But modern research suggests that too much information can be hazardous as well.

If you've been experiencing inordinate on-the-job stress, or in hindsight find your recent career path littered with foolish decisions and flawed conclusions, then you may be suffering from the newest IT-induced malady: Information Fatigue Syndrome (IFS). The synergistic evolution of computer and telecommunications technologies has created a Malthusian business world, one in which the quantity of information reaching our desks is growing exponentially, far surpassing the linear ability of the human brain to assimilate and process it.

The provocatively named "Dying for Information?" survey, commissioned recently by Reuters Business Information, found, not surprisingly, that many of us suffer (or at least perceive that we suffer) from information overload. And the resulting Information Fatigue Syndrome, warns the survey, can lead to delayed decisions, wasted time, increased tension, and even physical illness.

Among the 1,300 managers (in the US, UK, and Asia/Pacific) responding to the survey:

• 49% acknowledged that they are "often unable to handle" the volume of information they receive;
• 38% said they "waste substantial time" trying to locate useful information among the masses of extraneous data; and,
• 31% complained that they "receive enormous amounts" of unsolicited information.

The information confronting the modern manager comes in many forms: books, magazines and newspapers, TV and radio, corporate reports, interoffice memos, internal and external databases, e-mail, online newsgroups, Web pages.... Significantly, more than any other source, 48% of the respondents pegged the Internet as "a prime cause of information overload" for the near-term.

The Internet, through the World Wide Web, mailing lists, USENET newsgroups, and data search services, offers a wealth of information. Finding information on almost any topic is easy. But trying to sort the wheat from the chaff (and there's a lot of chaff) to find useful information can quickly lead to Information Fatigue Syndrome.

The Reuters-commissioned survey referred to above does a good job of defining the ailment and quantifying the symptoms. Unfortunately, it offers little guidance as to how to cure, or even treat, the disease. Indeed, unless and until intelligent software agents are developed to do the drudge work of information analysis, there probably is no cure. The best we can hope for is an occasional temporary remission (better known as a vacation).

In the past, depending on our point of view, many of us probably complained that our information glass was half empty, or rejoiced that it was half full. Today, both the pessimist and the optimist are more likely to agree that the glass is too big -- and still overflowing.

WM. Auckerman