I know how you feel: There is no end in sight for learning, and the signal-to-noise ratio is low (aka: percentage of actual breakthroughs to rehashes of old things, or pretention of progress).

And the exposure to this "noise" - which is unavoidable - leads to the feeling of being overwhelmed. I could not start anything, because, what is the point?

That is one of the reasons why I am building those little isolated islands for myself: my personal projects that I want to do. I am trying to keep at it for a couple of years now, and there was some epic failures, but when it works, it feels really good.

Also, I am trying - sometimes unsuccessfully - to isolate the state of the industry (or my work) from my hobby. Work wise, it is laughable at best: so much talent is being wasted. I don't want to claim a high ground here by saying that this waste was avoidable, but really, it was (and is, most of the time).