[s3000]

>Why do I find myself in this situation? Is it FOMO driving me to want to keep track of everything? Perhaps it’s some form of perfectionism or even an addiction.

My preferred explanation is Repetition compulsion [1].

>Whatever the cause, the end result is the same: I spend a huge amount of time collecting a never-ending stream of links, notes, and thoughts, only to never actually go back and read them again.

Do those notes have to be read again by the one who creates them? Connecting information and publishing that on social media allows others to do the next steps.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repetition_compulsion

[mo_42]

I like the idea of repetition compulsion. Most probably keeps people going once they started this way. But why do people start in the first place?

I think it's some kind of uneasiness with actual work. Actual work is hard, not exciting and the reward may come in a distant future.

Maybe I should avoid HN much more because it gives me a dopamine kick without having accomplished anything.

[s3000]

The opposite of information hoarding is not unexciting, mind-numbing work. The opposite of information hoarding is doing what you want to do.

If somebody can do something nice, and still does information hoarding, things become interesting.

That's why it's more than a habit:

>Repetition compulsion is the unconscious tendency of a person to repeat a traumatic event or its circumstances

Information hoarding is the perfect repeatable event. There is an almost infinite supply of rewarding ideas and there is no physical obstacle building up that triggers invention from somebody else.

With those conditions, any traumatic event, any drama, can be projected onto these situations until the lesson is learned.

The cruel paradox of the information hoarder community is that they haven't managed to create a list of information that helps to resolves their unfortunate condition.