What if you were on a Deserted Island with All the Books in the World?

This is where we are today in the modern world. There is so much information that it is hard to even get our heads around how much is out there. Where do we start? There is no way to get through all this information and we can easily get distracted. How do we decide what to pick up and what to ignore?

The modern scenario is an inversion from the Medieval age. In that older age, they had a few books to study and so they could study most, if not all of them. In our age, we have all the books in the world and then we have the internet on top of that. And we don’t know anything very well at all. 

The question is: how do we handle this overload of information? 

Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 12:12, “Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.” In Solomon’s time, he saw the problem of too much information. The possibility of information overload can happen anywhere and at any time. Here are three key principles to help in this time. 

The first principle is to know the problem. Solomon in Ecclesiastes 1:18 says, “For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.”

In this verse, we see that as we learn more about the world, we also learn more about the troubles and problems in the world: poverty, abortion, death, etc. This new knowledge can be troubling to learn: it makes us sober. The second lesson is that as we learn more, we realize how much is out there that we don’t know. I could study math in college but at the end of that time, there is still so much more math out there to explore. I could study history and I will quickly realize that there is still so much more history out there to study. 

Both of these lessons are important to understand. Neither one should prevent us from learning but these lessons should sober us to the reality of knowledge. The primary lesson to learn is that more knowledge does not automatically mean better solutions. 

The primary lesson to learn is that more knowledge does not automatically mean better solutions.

The modern world is plagued with the problem of trying to solve problems by means of more information. We think that if we can only gather every last known data point, then we will know what to do. But that is a Sisyphean task. 

This is one of our great anxieties as we look at the world. We fear that we might be missing some key piece of data and so we think that we must consume everything we can before we can make the right decision. But that is a non-starter. We must give up the quest to know everything. We must know our own frame and realize that we will not know everything. 

We fear that we might be missing some key piece of data and so we think that we must consume everything we can before we can make the right decision. But that is a non-starter.

This insight into our human frame does not undermine true scholarship nor the pursuit of true knowledge. Rather, this insight reinforces our true nature as people. We cannot be God; we cannot know all. But the things we can know, we should know well. This also helps us see that knowledge cannot save us. Data is not our savior. 

The second principle we must know is how to focus on the key components of the world. We must sift through all the data and be able to focus on the most important parts. In order to sift information correctly, we must read the Bible. That is the guidebook for us in this quest. The central principles and ideas are there. If we know the principles there, then they will guide us as we work through other knowledge and material. 

In order to sift information correctly, we must read the Bible. That is the guidebook for us in this quest.

After the Bible, there are particular books and discussions that you should know in order to understand how to live well. These key books are the ones that have built our civilization. Greek and Roman authors like Plato, Aristotle, Homer, Virgil, Cicero, and Livy. As well as Medieval authors like Augustine, Boethius, Dante, and Aquinas. 

As you get into these writers and thinkers you will find that there are just a few key conversations that people have been having through history. These conversations are really all the same ones that we are discussing right now. How did we get here? How do we view our past? What is the relation of civil government and churches? When is war good? How do we educate the next generation? What is the family? What does it mean to be a good citizen? 

The final principle for our time is that we must make decisions. Based on what you know, decide now how to handle the over abundance of information. Don’t try to swallow all the knowledge out there. Recognize your frame and dig in to what you can. Too much study is wearisome. You can’t do everything so do the things that are right in front of you. 

The school of wisdom starts with the fear of the Lord. If we get that right, then we will get the other things right also. This underlines that we are not saved by good decisions or by lots of knowledge. We are saved by the gospel. And we walk in that by faith. We have to decide how to live with the time we have and with the knowledge that we have. We look to Jesus first in all our decisions and then we leave the rest in God’s hands: “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:6).