Some thoughts and implications about Internet overload
I’m a former journalist, and it was my life at one time when I was younger. I was totally caught up in every aspect of news. That career and way of life ended rather abruptly 30 years ago, and I never returned to the profession. However, I still have that intense interest in knowing what’s going on in my hometown, state, nation and the world. Everything interests me. I have always had a widely roving sense of curiosity about people, places, events and happenings “out there” beyond my own little world.
The problem is that where we once had access to a few newspapers and nightly news on TV, now with the Internet there’s exponentially more news, opinion, feature stories, and “content” if you wiIl, than I ever could have imagined in my wildest dreams. It’s literally a continuous cascade of information and stimuli, as is true with the Internet is in general. I try to limit my sources, but I have so many I feel almost compelled to check frequently. This, I realize, can be a real hindrance to spiritual growth and meditation in all its forms, as well as learning in depth. Sometimes the only way I can get away from it is when I’m far off walking in the woods.
The question becomes, “How much do I need to know, and beyond myself, how much do any of us need to know before our brains defensively react to the onslaught?” This question is going to pre-occupy me until I’ve arrived, for the first time ever, at a workable solution. But it’s going to be very difficult because through the various media I read and engage with I feel connected to the pulse of life in these tumultuous times. I feel I must know what is going on in the world because we are all interconnected, whether we like that or not.
When I’m informed, I feel less lonely and insulated. Withdrawing from most of that would create a huge vacuum that I’d have to fill through reading books, reflecting on life, listening to music, meeting people “in real life” instead of living like a hermit, and being too introspective. This would be a very good thing. But the Internet has for years pulled my away from these thing. I’m not blaming the Internet. It’s my conscious decision and I love bouncing around the Web immersing myself, even for just a short time, in all the wonder and riches online.
However, books really are the answer to so many of these questions I’ve posed, but the Internet totally distracts me. Endless YouTube videos, as just one example, pass by in a constant stream, and what am I left with after watching each one, sometimes more than once? A feeling of vague emptiness. This despite the fact that I love being absorbed in YouTubes and find some of them riveting and fascinating, as if a some portal is opening to thoughts, ideas and situations I’ve never cone across before. But again, the pleasure is fleeting and I would struggle to recall what I had just learned. But, I will gladly exchange this type news and opinion for these other types of content. I just have to pull away from the temptation to frequently check the news.
Again, to re-emphasize, books allow the deepest possible engagement with ideas from other minds. This seems incontrovertible to me and so difficult to find the time for in this AGE OF THE INTERNET!
At the same time, it’s unwise to retreat from retreat drastically from the Internet in a quest to delve only into purer, deeper and more enlightened subjects. I really don’t know where to draw the line, but I’m working on it. There has to be a happy medium somewhere.
“The neuroscience of news overload”
https://elemental.medium.com/the-neuroscience-of-news-overload-9dda817f5ee5
Lovely!! I’m a former journalist student. I gave in due to college cost. I feel very fortunate to still consider books as a medium. I especially enjoy your point about books being the most extensively engaging way to interact with other views. My professor once asked how we verify our news sources. Almost every one said, “if I see it on multiple platforms.”
@lotussangues Definitely books are the way to go for in-depth learning The Internet has greatly interfered with that and replaced intensive concentration with endless avenues for superficial knowledge, learning and entertainment, all of which I enjoy too much, hence the reason for my entry! 🤔
I love the quote about multiple platforms. So true!
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I stopped watching the news decades ago, and haven’t missed it one whit. I had an experience in the 70s where I found out that the news media is prone to exaggeration and sensationalism to the point of barely being able to recognize the true story. Your description of how it fills you up while connected, but leaves you feeling empty when not sounds like a drug addiction, constantly wanting more. Maybe it’s time to get out of your isolation and do something to help actual people. Volunteer for something.
@startingover_1 I actually enjoy my “isolation,” but a better word in my case would be solitude. I really don’t care about getting out around people, except for the occasional shopping, which I enjoy for the most part. I’d love to volunteer but during the pandemic, and now with the Delta variant, I don’t want to expose myself needlesy to risk, even being vaccinated. Also, helping people takes many forms.
@oswego I totally understand. As a fellow introvert, I actually enjoyed not having to be around people as much. No meetings! Hallelujah! No group “discussions” or having to listen to the pointless blatherings of people who never quite get to the point. It was heavenly. 😅😂
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Very interesting article, and I’ve been aware of its main points for some time now: if not careful, a person could spend 24/7 in front of their computer.
The difficulty in coping with news overload is how to get a spectrum of the news, so you can make (hopefully) intelligent decisions about what’s going on in the world. It seems to me the tendency is to pare down to a handful of sources that all have the same POV, because you agree with them, or you think other PsOV are untrustworthy, or biased.
It’s a dance, and the music and the steps change all the time. Which is both good & bad, and certainly keeps you on your toes mentally, if you’re paying attention at all. I do think frequent walks in the woods are really helpful (new name for that: Forest Bathing) — rather like eating French bread between sips of different wine at a wine tasing — clears your brain & gives you a fresh start.
@ghostdancer yes, indeed about news sources we agree with. I could not bear to watch even five minutes of Fox News because of the misogyny, racism, Trumpism, and hateful points of view. I can easily watch MSNBC because the hosts are informed, intelligent, compassionate and enlightened. There really is no doubt in my mind about the distinction between these two news and opinion sources. Of course it helps to know that I am a Socialist at heart, but pragmatic enough to realize there’s not going to be such a party with that ideology any time soon.
@oswego Yes, I guess I am also a Socialist at heart, and no, there won’t be a political party with any of those tenets in our lifetime. We’ll be lucky if the Democratic party survives!
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Unfortunately I have become turned against the MSM in Canada since they are paid (monthly) by the government. I can’t trust them to report truthfully-ie. who would write something negative against their paymasters? It is difficult to find reliable alternative sources though.
@trunorth It’s fsirly easy for me to find reliable sources because thankfully I received a good liberal arts education in college; was a journalist and teacher for years, and my last job depended on my being able to accurately evaluate Web sites and online information. I really feel very fortunate in this regard.
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