By Neil D. Schuster, AAMVA President & CEO

A cardiologist in Chicago found that if emergency room doctors ask just four questions of potential heart attack patients, they are more likely to diagnose the condition than if they receive more information from the patient. What’s the secret? Asking for the right information, of course. Knowledge, which we have in abundant supply, isn’t as critical as understanding, which is often a scarce commodity. TMI (Too Much Information) is, sadly, a burden and gets in the way of making solid decisions. So perhaps you shouldn’t be reading this?

Seems we’re all suffering from Information Fatigue Syndrome. The term was coined in a recent report from Reuters News Agency, called Dying for Information? , which argued that many people are becoming highly stressed by trying to cope with the huge amounts of information flooding them from books, fax messages, the telephone, journals, and the Internet. The symptoms of Information Fatigue Syndrome include paralysis of analytical capacity, a hyper-aroused psychological condition, and anxiety and self-doubt, leading to foolish decisions and flawed conclusions. This particularly affects those whose jobs mainly involve dealing with and processing information.

We’re victims of a cascade of information that may impair our ability to make effective decisions. Email, the web, the ever-present mobile phone are all marvelous tools, but also the conduit that enables TMI: workers being deluged under a flood of information impairing their ability to perform their job.  Perhaps we need to consider the approach used by that cardiologist in Chicago – figure out what information is important and tune out the rest.

The same is possibly true when it comes to driving. GPS systems, satellite radio, our cell phone and other new sources of information are available to us when we are behind the wheel. Yet I’ll bet none of us were educated in how to drive while bombarded with information. A few months ago, Hertz didn’t have the standard run-of-the-mill vehicle I usually rent from the company and I was “upgraded” to a vehicle with an array of buttons and displays I simply couldn’t figure out. I was able to turn on the radio, but couldn’t change stations or turn down the volume.

And more is coming. For example, heads up displays in our windshield are likely in our future – information delivered to us visually as we look out the front window of our car. The question is how much of this information will make us safer behind the wheel, and how much will put us at greater risk. Certainly, there is a lot of research and analysis in our future to determine how to optimize a driver’s attention behind the wheel, and the results of that research will guide future education and testing of drivers.

Motor vehicle agencies will need to be at the table when this work is underway, and AAMVA should be involved. And as the association for motor vehicle agencies, we promise to keep you informed, but (hopefully) not to overload you with Too Much Information.