The fable of the frog in the well illustrates, quite convincingly, the limitations and the narrow-world view one obtains from a lifetime's worth of experience that is confined merely to one's immediate surroundings. The extent to which we travel and have access to different experiences is exponentially greater than any other generation before us. Besides, the internet enables us to gather glimpses of the remotest corners of the planet from the comfort of our armchairs. It is tempting to think that these diverse experiences from several corners of the world, should cause our world-view to expand, making us more broad-minded. Moreover, this exposure is an opportunity for us to enrich our well-springs of human wisdom - allowing us to draw inspiration, and in-turn, translate it into the creation of sublime art and profound philosophy. At the very least, this is the same breath in which evangelists of the digital and information age would pitch its benefits.
But are there less obvious, more devious ways in which this abundance of information is affecting our conscious and unconscious interactions with the world around us? For practically the entire year, I have been on a self-imposed information age exile, where my use of the internet for news and social media is less than 5% of what it used to be at the end of 2016. But I do notice that when I read, watch or listen to something good, I pause and reflect upon it to a greater extent, and engage with it more actively. In other words, I try to question, reason and absorb the essence of the content I do consume to a greater extent, because I have the time and space to do this - time and space that is afforded to me because I am not constantly bombarded by an unrelenting flow of information.
However, the powers that be - mostly a bunch of smart engineers cooped up in shiny office buildings in the Bay Area - are working precisely against this tendency. These companies are locked in deadly competition, vying for our attention spans through mechanisms that rely on a stimulating a concoction of feel good hormones in our brain through their user interfaces. The direct consequence of this competition is the whittling down of our attention span. The risk here is that our attention is spread too thin - so thin that it counters the premise that was posed in the beginning of this post. Too much information signifies breadth, that is increasingly coming at the cost of depth.
Bombarded with this barrage of information, it is increasingly relegated to mere and temporary stimulation, rather than as a means for deeper thought or engagement. Its audience is transformed into passive spectators of data, as the world goes by at a dizzying speed. And this is completely understandable, because if we did think deeply about every piece of information that reaches us through these channels, our heads would hurt with the effort. My premise is that our world is reinforcing a generation of shallow minds that skim information off the top, having very limited deep learning. It is best that we stand guarded against this rising trend, whereby, paradoxically as it may seem, increasing exposure to information only makes us shallower.
PS: Sources of inspiration and recommended viewing:
1. Quit Social Media - Cal Newport
2. Do Our Devices Control More Than We Think? - Tristan Harris
But are there less obvious, more devious ways in which this abundance of information is affecting our conscious and unconscious interactions with the world around us? For practically the entire year, I have been on a self-imposed information age exile, where my use of the internet for news and social media is less than 5% of what it used to be at the end of 2016. But I do notice that when I read, watch or listen to something good, I pause and reflect upon it to a greater extent, and engage with it more actively. In other words, I try to question, reason and absorb the essence of the content I do consume to a greater extent, because I have the time and space to do this - time and space that is afforded to me because I am not constantly bombarded by an unrelenting flow of information.
However, the powers that be - mostly a bunch of smart engineers cooped up in shiny office buildings in the Bay Area - are working precisely against this tendency. These companies are locked in deadly competition, vying for our attention spans through mechanisms that rely on a stimulating a concoction of feel good hormones in our brain through their user interfaces. The direct consequence of this competition is the whittling down of our attention span. The risk here is that our attention is spread too thin - so thin that it counters the premise that was posed in the beginning of this post. Too much information signifies breadth, that is increasingly coming at the cost of depth.
Bombarded with this barrage of information, it is increasingly relegated to mere and temporary stimulation, rather than as a means for deeper thought or engagement. Its audience is transformed into passive spectators of data, as the world goes by at a dizzying speed. And this is completely understandable, because if we did think deeply about every piece of information that reaches us through these channels, our heads would hurt with the effort. My premise is that our world is reinforcing a generation of shallow minds that skim information off the top, having very limited deep learning. It is best that we stand guarded against this rising trend, whereby, paradoxically as it may seem, increasing exposure to information only makes us shallower.
PS: Sources of inspiration and recommended viewing:
1. Quit Social Media - Cal Newport
2. Do Our Devices Control More Than We Think? - Tristan Harris
