Information Overload and The Struggle Towards Simplicity

I heard in a webinar this week that the average person today reads, hears, or in some way is exposed to over one-hundred thousand words a day. That is about two medium-sized novels or books a day.

Some of this information we consciously select-we go and get it. But much of it just pours into us as we listen passively to podcasts, news radio, TV, or scroll through our internet and social network feeds.

How is this daily deluge of unfiltered words affecting our mental and emotional health? Statistics are not painting a very nice picture. The disease of despair is growing in all age groups, and particularly among the young.

We hear of people more and more “unplugging” from technology. And while that sounds to me like a great idea, it is not a practical one. There is value in being able to learn to do new things, or be exposed to new ideas–ideas available with little effort  A quick Google, you-tube, Instagram, or tick-tock search will tell you exactly what you wanted to know or learn.

It’s a question of both quality and quantity. I am an undisciplined person when it comes to information.  I rarely make the distinction between active, intentional consumption of information and the passive absorption of words as I go through my day. This passive absorption of words, and the ways I am drawn into more content than I initially sought, wears on me like a yoke over my shoulders. I am tied to whatever ideas. concepts, or images I take in without a clear intent to do so.

I wonder when I collapse in bed at the end of the day,  if I am exhausted from good mental or physical work, or from being passively bombarded by other people’s thoughts and opinions for sixteen hours.

Eight years ago I unplugged from Facebook. I didn’t unplug because Facebook was evil. I unplugged it because I could not discipline myself to use it sparingly, effectively, and positively. I found myself sucked into comments, getting burned up by opinions, and becoming envious at all the wonderful things everyone was doing but me.

I love words. I love great literature. I love good writing. I love the New Yorker magazine and a number of other literary periodicals. These are conscious choices I make in what words I will digest. I must ask myself as I intake words, if they are adding to my life, to my well being, to my effectiveness inside my world–or are they drying me up, draining me of hope and vitality.

I am increasingly cutting myself off from the passive absorption of words. Browsing is no longer a positive term for me. That is passive absorption and a fruitless way to wear down my soul. Searching for something particular is not, as long as I stay focused on the one thing I am searching for.

I need more of the virtues of simplicity and discilpline and prudence in order to stop the flow of information–to protect my mind and my heart so that I can work well during the day, and sleep well at night.

I don’t intend to unplug, but I intend to be more intentional in what words I take in.