Whether the information is personal, business, or entertainment oriented…it’s just too much. Being 100% honest, it does not affect me that “Stephanie” has class, then a doctor’s appointment, then has to walk her dog, go to the gym, and finally after a long day “Stephanie” is going to watch her favorite show The Bachelor. How do I know this plethora of information you may ask? No, I did not ask “Stephanie” to send me her day-planner…I read this on Facebook. Many can relate that this is just one example of the countless irrelevant pieces of information we receive, not daily, not hourly, but by the minute. Even the most focused people can instantly become distracted as noted by Sharon Begley when she warns that “…trying to drink from a firehose of information has harmful cognitive effects” (I Can’t Think, 22).
Begley tells us our brain can hold about seven items at a time, so why are people trying to hold seven times that and then some? One main reason is our literal addiction to information. The article, “In the Beginning Was the Word”, tells us “…our brains are naturally inclined to constantly seek new stimuli. Clicking on link after link…we are actually revving up our brains with dopamine” (Rosen, 3). Whether we seek out this information or it comes at us unwillingly the outcome is the same: too much information is detrimental to our ability to make good decisions. This continually exhausting weaving web of information leads one to make preventable mistakes and bad choices. Who would think we’d be smarter knowing less?
Its human nature to want to be as knowledgeable as possible, but is information as important as your career, your family, your friends? Too much information at one time linked with making the wrong decision(s) may very well lead to damaging any of the previously mentioned (career, family, friends), all due to an influx of information at your fingertips. It is okay to take a break…so please do.
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