I woke up this morning, tapped my digital signal, and found this from Brian McGowan on Twitter: “What happens when complexity races ahead of the mind’s ability to adapt? When progress outpaces evolution? We need new solutions.”

What happens when information outpaces evolution?

Like a slow hunch, a version of this idea has been rattling around in my head for some weeks.  Specifically: Is there a new kind of human intelligence evolving?  Will our ability to work with knowledge in the face of limitless information select for a new kind of thinker in the 21st century?  I suspect it will. Thinking and the creation of new ideas will require the capacity to balance limitless inputs with mindfulness and the ability to quiet one’s self. We weren’t built for this but we’ll be forced to adapt. We have to learn how to live with the technology we create. Some of us better than others will master what Sherry Turkle has referred to as information choreography.

How we handle attention crash will evolve as one of the next generation’s great challenges.  As Brian suggested, we need solutions. This will happen, of course, once we recognize that this is a real issue that needs attention.