I used to ignore Newcomb's problem for exactly that reason, until someone pointed out that there's a mapping to the issue of retaliation. (I called it revenge in the link, but that connotes vigilantism, so retaliation is a better term.) The problem doesn't require an all-knowing superintelligence, just some predictor with a "pretty darn good" chance of correctly guessing what you'll do.
In general, it's applicable to any problem where:
a) Someone else chooses actions based on how they predict you'll act, and they're pretty good at predicting.
b) I...
I am, and have been for most of my life, an information glutton. The internet has made my affliction worse by providing me with the equivalent of an unlimited buffet of both nutritious as well as junk food for my brain which never leaves my side. A fire hose of data focused straight into my mind's mouth. If the brain food is mostly high quality, and I'm exercising my grey matter vigorously enough to warrant such high volumes of knowledge, then it's not that much of a problem. However, I've recently crossed a threshold where I seem to be spending more time navigating this buffet rather than consuming the food.
Ok, dropping the metaphor and getting to the point, I need to know how I can efficiently minimize the amount of time I spend staying abreast of the things I should now so I can maximizing the time I spend actually learning them and hopefully having ample time left over to be productive at applying that knowledge. Mind you, I am pretty diligent when it comes to avoiding the frivolous youtube clips, emails, and reddit/slashdot/etc. refreshes. That isn't the problem. The problem is figuring out which books, research papers, and blogs to stay aware of, and how to automate such a system. Any techniques you would like to share?