The Information Diet

A framework for acquiring knowledge in the age of AI, podcasts, and social media

This piece is a follow-up to my article from earlier this week and details where (and how) I acquire knowledge.

I am fond of the concept of an information diet: the conscious curation of facts and analysis so that an individual can manage how she or he acquires knowledge, either generally, or on specific matters. A while back, someone on X (Twitter) tweeted: “my information consumption is now 1/4 X [Twitter], 1/4 podcast interviews of the smartest practitioners, 1/4 talking to the leading AI models, and 1/4 reading old books.” Many other individuals seem to have similar models. Personally, I would recommend a modified model that is also based on four — but somewhat different — sources:

Books: Reading a well-written book, or a number of books, on a subject by a well-informed person is the best way to develop a thorough foundation in that area of study. Books are more cognitively demanding than videos and podcasts, require more active engagement, and most importantly contain a higher information density than other media, requiring the reader to delve into the subject, think, and make connections between ideas. In sum, books promote deep comprehension of a matter that is well suited to developing a foundational understanding of a subject. There is no doubt that we now live in the age of video content. Perhaps this is a revision to the default, since humans evolved to see and hear people talk to them and convey information orally and visually. Modern content can be fun, and even addictive; it has its role in the realm of entertainment, but this makes it all the more important that those who wish to truly gain deep knowledge continue reading, so as to keep their minds sharp. No one reaches the highest levels of understanding without sustained reading. As a recent article in The Atlantic pointed out, literate individuals demonstrated a far greater ability to make logical inferences and abstractions than illiterate individuals. Someone who knows how to read but rarely exercises that ability deprives himself or herself of one of humanity's greatest cognitive tools.

Abbasid Caliph al-Mamun sends an envoy to Byzantine Emperor Theophilos seeking books. Credits: Wikimedia Commons.

Discussions, interviews, and talks: This category involves listening to — or watching — experts and practitioners discussing a subject. Ideally, this category of information consumption should be built on a subject base acquired through reading, or at least through some background knowledge from school or college. Rather than replacing books, discussions are most valuable when they build upon an existing foundation, deepening one’s knowledge of a subject or exploring a specific facet of it. For most people, it is a better format than scholarly literature for discovering interesting ideas and viewpoints.

For example, I follow someone on YouTube, Jess of the Shire, who discusses various themes and aspects of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, along with some other literature. Of course, accessing these ideas presupposes some familiarity with the works of Tolkien and other adjacent authors. I appreciate her perspective, which combines her own views with more scholarly ideas while remaining very much geared toward a general audience. Likewise, the discussions and interviews in the podcast that I frequently listen to, The Ancients, are very accessible — featuring a back-and-forth discussion between the host and the interviewee, usually an academic expert on the subject at hand. Some recent episodes that I listened to included a discussion on ancient astronomy, the Phoenicians, Zoroastrianism, the Romans and China, the White Huns, and what would have happened if Julius Caesar was not assassinated on the Ides of March. But these all presuppose some familiarity with Roman, Greek, and Persian history.

The Ancients also has a great sister podcast, Gone Medieval.

For reasons previously discussed, if a person wants to grasp the basics of a subject, I would recommend reading a book (or magazine/newspaper) on the matter rather than watching one of the many “introduction to” and “crash course” videos on a topic out there, some of which are not even created by humans anymore, though I am well aware this may well be my own personal preference, and that a large number of people would prefer a video over a book.

The Internet: This is self-explanatory. While there’s a risk of information overload and misinformation and being deceived by artificial intelligence — which can be useful though, but with a clear head — the internet is really the best place to go down a rabbit hole and learn a lot about anything, especially if one has the ability to discern truth from falsity. You can Google anything, browse Instagram or X (Twitter) to get the latest updates on what’s going on in the news or to simply find more obscure takes on something, and get a lot from Wikipedia. There are some very interesting handles on X (Twitter) run directly by politicians, religious figures, scholars, businesspeople, scientists, and others that one can use to discover unique information or interact with directly.

Periodicals: For current news and events, as well as trends and analysis on a number of topics ranging from international affairs to technology to medicine. These are mostly written for a general audience, though there are of course, more specialized publications, and can be found in both print and digital versions. Their advantage lies in keeping abreast of developments in the topics that interest you without dealing with the massive amounts of information or poor analysis found online. It is about quality control, but since there are many options, it need not be about being pushed into a viewpoint overly opposed to one’s inclinations. Many of these magazines or newspapers also put out videos, podcasts, interviews, and the like. The periodical category here runs the gamut from the newspaper or magazine of your choice (I read The Economist every week) to more specialized publications to newsletters and Substack publications one finds valuable.

None of this should be construed so as to exclude television, movies, music, and gaming — all of which I enjoy — for the purposes of entertainment, relaxation, or even learning. An information diet serves a different purpose: the acquisition of knowledge and facts.