The Problem of the Information Crisis: Stressful Aspects of the Information’s Impact on the Human Mind
Keywords:
information, information crisis, information stress, homeostasis, central nervous system, psyche, desadaptation, emotions, information ecology, infosphere.Abstract
The article considers the problem of the information crisis. The negative influence of the excessive volume of information on the person is explained by information overload, which generates a disturbance of homeostasis both at the mental and physiological level. Significant role in the emerging information stress is played by the malfunction of the excitation-inhibition balance, as well as mental disorientation and the atrophy of emotional reactions. Due to its systemic effect the information stress can not only cause such psychological phenomena as neuroticism and depression, but also lead to various somatic pathologies through a cascade of failures in regulatory systems of human organism. In the author’s opinion, the information crisis supposes not only the emergence of such discipline as information ecology, but also a general transition of civilization to widespread systems of forecasting and planning in infosphere.
