I enjoyed your recent Commentary "Ignorance May Be A Virtue In The Age Of Information Overload" (The Scientist, April 17, 1989, page 10). The column reminds me of my own pet idea for helping the world better cope with information overload, a mechanism that would be provided by the publishers of nonfiction books, magazines, journals, newsletters, and newspapers.
Simply present the most important ideas, sentences, and paragraphs in an article or book in boldface print! This single innovation, widely applied, would help all of us who must absorb vast vistas of print information to do so more efficiently and with less effort.
In addition to boldface, italics, underlining, and a printed version of "highlighting" could be used to emphasize words and passages— whatever best fits the publication and the material.
Well-done typographic emphasis would assist both skimming an article or book (after which the piece may or may...
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