In an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes. What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it.


Simon, H. A. (1971) "Designing Organizations for an Information-Rich World" in: Martin Greenberger, Computers, Communication, and the Public Interest, Baltimore. MD: The Johns Hopkins Press. pp. 40–41.

Herbert A. Simon Quotes

In an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes....

In an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes....

In an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes....

In an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes....