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Author Sunstein, Cass R., author.

Title Too much information : understanding what you don't want to know / Cass R. Sunstein.

Publication Info. Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, [2020]

Copies

Location Call No. Status
 Enfield, Main Library - Adult Department  025.5 SUN    Check Shelf
 West Hartford, Noah Webster Library - Non Fiction  025.52 SUNSTEIN    Check Shelf
Description 252 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 21 cm
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages [195]-226) and index.
Contents Knowledge is power, but ignorance is bliss -- Measuring welfare -- Psychology -- Learning the wrong thing -- Moral wrongs -- Valuing Facebook -- Sludge.
Summary How information can make us happy or miserable, and why we sometimes avoid it and sometimes seek it out. How much information is too much? Do we need to know how many calories are in the giant vat of popcorn that we bought on our way into the movie theater? Do we want to know if we are genetically predisposed to a certain disease? Can we do anything useful with next week's weather forecast for Paris if we are not in Paris? In Too Much Information, Cass Sunstein examines the effects of information on our lives. Policymakers emphasize the right to know, but Sunstein takes a different perspective, arguing that the focus should be on human well-being and what information contributes to it. Government should require companies, employers, hospitals, and others to disclose information not because of a general right to know but when the information in question would significantly improve people's lives. Sunstein argues that the information on warnings and mandatory labels is often confusing or irrelevant, yielding no benefit. He finds that people avoid information if they think it will make them sad (and seek information they think will make them happy). Our information avoidance and information seeking is notably heterogeneous--some of us do want to know the popcorn calorie count, others do not. Of course, says Sunstein, we are better off with stop signs, warnings on prescription drugs, and reminders about payment due dates. But sometimes less is more. What we need is more clarity about what information is actually doing or achieving.
Subject Information behavior.
Disclosure of information.
Information policy.
Information policy. (OCoLC)fst00972596
Information behavior. (OCoLC)fst01737153
Disclosure of information. (OCoLC)fst00894870
ISBN 9780262044165 (hardcover)
0262044161 (hardcover)
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