Why More Information Won't Make Better Decisions

Editor’s Note: We live in a world that assumes more information leads to better decisions. Biju Dominic disagrees. Watch the 23-minute FF Conversations with Biju, where he dwells on what that means for how we make decisions and communicate

The arrival of search engines opened the floodgates to a world of information. Then came Large Language Models (LLMs) and the flood became a deluge. Today, whether you’re curious about the chemical makeup of your favourite soap or want a deep critique of a US presidential policy, the answers are just seconds away.

LLMs deliver not just data, but context, analysis and nuance, on demand, in milliseconds. But this explosion of accessible knowledge raises a deeper question—Will this abundance of information change the way humans have made decisions through evolution? ...

Kenya Hara, the internationally renowned Japanese designer, writes in his book Ex-formation: ‘Knowledge has ceased functioning as an intermediary that facilitates thought, and multitudes of those pieces of information pile up all around us, their state one in which it’s not clear whether they are dead or alive.’

In today’s world, we are drowning in information, a ceaseless downpour of facts, figures, headlines and updates. The challenge lies not in a lack of information, but in overwhelming saturation. The human brain, evolved over millions of years to process only what was relevant for immediate survival, now faces an overload of input it was never prepared to manage.

Because information is easily available, many of the AI products take pride in their ability to scan the whole web world and all data sets available to provide the most detailed answer to even a simple question. Do not be surprised if a simple question—what should I do to take care of my common cold?—results in an answer resembling a PhD thesis. The result? Information loses meaning.

Much like T.S. Eliot, we are now forced to ask, ‘Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in Information?’ …

[M]ost human decisions aren’t fresh deliberations; they’re replays of past choices, made quickly and with minimal thought. These decisions unfold not over minutes, but in seconds or even milliseconds.

This isn’t a flaw. It’s the sheer efficiency of the human decision-making process. The human brain, operating on just 20 Watts of power, is arguably the most energy-efficient machine in the known universe. And like any efficient system, it’s designed to do more with less, especially when it comes to processing information. So, even in a world overflowing with data, where Large Language Models can deliver reams of content at a keystroke, it’s unlikely that the human brain will suddenly begin scanning pages of information to make day-to-day routine decisions. Instead, it will continue doing what it has always done. Filter ruthlessly. Decide rapidly. Conserve energy.

No matter how abundant the information becomes, the brain’s instinct to shortcut, simplify and act swiftly will remain. The flow of conversation, the snap of recognition the click of a choice, these will still occur in the blink of an eye. Given the biological constraints of the human brain and its need to conserve energy, reliance on shortcuts and preference for speed over depth, can the vast, intricate knowledge base of LLMs ever truly influence human decision-making? The answer is yes, but only if we shift our focus from information to exformation.

Exformation is a concept introduced by Tor Nørretranders in his book The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size. At its core, exformation is the mental editing process, the invisible effort we make to strip down vast knowledge into something brief, clear and actionable. As Tor explains, ‘Exformation is about the mental work we do in order to make what we want to say, sayable.’ ‘Exformation is a summary, an abbreviation suitable for communicating or guiding a transaction such as paying for our shopping.’

The human brain excels at this. It distils oceans of information into lightweight cognitive modules, allowing us to respond quickly, efficiently and unconsciously. In a world flooded with information, exformation is how we stay afloat.

At present, the LLMs and the chatbots built on them don’t engage in exformation. They deliver torrents of data, flooding the user with information as if the human brain were equipped to process it all effortlessly. But here’s the truth: For the LLMs to be truly effective in contributing to the human decision-making process, they must start focusing on exformation. The human brain, shaped by millions of years of evolution, is a master of efficiency wired to conserve energy by processing only what is absolutely necessary. That deeply ingrained nature doesn’t change just because a new technology has arrived. If anything, LLMs must adapt to the brain and not the other way around. And that’s why exformation—the art of distilling meaning, stripping away the noise and delivering only what matters—will become central to the future of communication. In a world of limitless data, what we choose to leave out will matter more than what we include.

Dig Deeper

An FF Conversation with Biju Dominic | The 20-Watt Brain vs. The Megawatt LLM: Why AI's Information Avalanche Is Failing Human Decision-Making →

(Excerpt from MicroStimuli: The New Science of Persuasion by Biju Dominic. Reprinted with permission from Penguin Business.)