NO MORE INFO
It is a gift that information is held within our phones, so we don’t need to hold it all in our brains, but the rate at which information is generated is faster than the speed of light squared. The irony is that I write this blog to inform you about how there is too much information. But irony is the laughter of the Goddess so here it goes…
Many Liberals are sensitive, and we care about social and environmental issues - this is the problem. How many environmental, social equality, justice, peace, political, and economic reform organizations are out there? Well, my inbox has just a few and it’s full of 50 emails every day. If each group request 5$ then that’s 250$ of donations a day.
Can’t these groups work together and form stronger alliances needing less money and giving us less spam? Probably not because one of the qualities of creation is variation - whether it be trees, birds, religions, or social action groups – everything has to find a different way of expressing itself. But as one person with a lot of empathy, it leads to socio-empathy overload.
Politics, social justice, women’s rights, and the Earth itself, are degrading. What to do? Send in 5$? Sign a petition? It is a meager act of defiance, but it might make a difference – at least when the ecosystems of the Earth collapse, I can lay down and die knowing I signed a petition.
But there is a deeper issue here – attention theft – our modern society excels at this, limiting human artistic expression in favor of paid advertising. It steals our attention and gives us neuroses in return. The news is no exception. The good news doesn’t attract attention like bad news. At some point, knowing all the ills of the world doesn’t make us better but makes us numb. For sensitive people, It limits our mental capabilities and receptiveness to information, especially the subtle information coming from our natural world. Our minds are jabbering away as the birds sing and the scent of wildflowers drift by, unnoticed.
Our digital society is run by an attention economy- attention is its currency. We are living in a culture that seeks to distract. Distraction leads us to a lost feeling where we aren’t rooted in our own experience. We are sent adrift into an ocean of worry, grasping, shopping, needing, and selling ourselves as our anchor of innocence is cut. This is the opposite of living in nature where there is nothing to buy and a calm innocence is a norm.
Most of the children of today will be used to the raining down of information and will swim easily, whereas the generation that had a life before cell phones might get overwhelmed. There is a great futuristic sci-fi book called Feed, that describes a futuristic teenage world where everyone has inserted chips in their brains and the flow of information and advertising is constant. – Say goodbye to simple pleasures and the connection to the living environment.
As our children drink the cool-aid of the information society in big gulps and turn away from quiet nature, the state of humanity will change. As a disconnected society intersects with a degrading environment, I can only imagine hard times ahead.
For now, as a sensitive human, I am using shields and blocking out information, even things I believe in. I wish for all the good things to happen – government to run, environment saved, justice prevail but I can’t process all of it every day. I suffer from socio-empathy overload. To cure myself, I must take a walk, grow some food, meditate, play with children or pet my cat, or write. If the big world can’t run without my attention, then it will be what it will be, but at least I’ll be sane.