church and solid state

Gimli, MB

Loosely continuing with the theme of the past few days (because obviously, the conversation in the comments has really been heating up!) I had a thought about our pattern of information consumption. It is this: insecurity drives us to seek out information, productivity tips, news, distractions, advice, commentary, stories, beauty and generally anything of which you might report a deficit.

I'm not necessarily saying that this insecurity is a debilitating emotional affliction that requires therapy and journalling and make-overs, but it might suggest that we need to slow down and think. In the admittedly limited circle of friends and acquaintances I move around in religion is not a common source of direction or guidance as far as daily life goes. Anti-heroes are much more popular than typical heroes because we've learned to suspect anyone not copping to at least a few familiar flaws. Things never really stop. The weekend is usually a hurried blur of meals and errands and anything that doesn't fit into the framework of a regular workday. So, we don't respect anybody enough to seek out real advice, we don't go to church anymore, we're really busy with the pace of life and the lack of downtime and we feel guilty about whatever it is we're not getting to. 

On top of all the really literal reasons people take in so much information (like looking up an address or research for work) I think that we are using the flow to guide ourselves. There's the reassurance of the crowd from status updates and there is expert guidance from articles and lists of tips to make life easier and more efficient and satisfying. There are manic and energetic gossipers that are more than willing to spew a relentless stream of "news" and opinions that make them beacons for advertising and the momentarily vapid. Not everything, though, is so easily dismissed. Some jobs have become very demanding and require a lot of time and energy. Anything that helps make things easier is obviously welcome. But, for the most part the influx is passive. There's just an unthinking, nagging itch to check for messages, updates or feeds because in the vague recesses of your mind you think it will be the thing that makes it all make a little more sense, finally.

All this is just buildup to properly weigh my one thought down and provide it the gravitas I'm sure it deserves. There is a sense of unease that I feel because I don't know if I'm doing all I can to get to where I'd like to be. I don't know if I even have the ability to get to where I want. Sometimes, I even question what it is that I want and hope that I'm not clinging to some romanticized fallacy. The bottom line is that there is no expert to approach with this problem. There is no certainty to be gained that I'm doing the right thing. Really, there is no right thing. I definitely feel better about things when I'm a little bit more unplugged. Since there isn't any outside source that I can use to guide me and no one person whose experience is especially relevant to me the best way to keep my head screwed on is simply to ignore the demanding party guest that is modern communication.


Update: Thanks (S)wine for letting me know about the NYT article today that talks a little more about this stuff.