from his book, "the brain has a mind of its own," He devotes a few pages to the problem of this information overload and how it IS a serious problem for some. He compares junk food to the information overload our society has inevitably found itself in the midst.
"Junk foods provide a good metaphor for this concept. Much of the information bombarding us from our televisions and radios lacks redeeming nutritional value, dulls our sensibilities, and leaves us idea-wise, bloated with trivia yet at the same time intellectually deprived. In short, too much nonessential news about nonevents may be hazardous to our mental health (60)."
Restak asks this question, "Just how much more info can the brain possibly deal with? (59)." His answer is that the brain's processing power regulates how much info one can take in over an alloted amount of time. The principles of information processing are based on the organization of the brain (59)."
Restak, describes a husband and wife who were his friends who suffered from information overload. They routinely keep three tvs running in the morning so they can know all that's going on and "not miss anything important." The husband rapidly scans three newspapers as the TV channels blare stuff and stuff about nothing and "everything."
After 3-4 weeks these info junkies just. flat. out. stop. They unplug everything, cancel subscriptions and their conversations are nothing more than quips of the most minimal bits of words as possible to get their point across for responding to someone.
Information is trivial, wisdom is scarce. Yet, perhaps we're all looking for one rather than the other, but which one are YOU searching for currently in your life?
No comments:
Post a Comment