Information Overload

It's been quite a while since I've written a worthwhile blog. To be honest, I've just been busy as hell. I'm playing a lot of poker (I'm qualified in two different leagues for big tournaments). I'm painting. I'm dating a wicked-hot chick (she's a roller derby athlete and her body is BANGIN!). I'm getting ready to have a new roommate. My buddy just got the new Mario Cart for Wii. I've been selling a ton of old worthless crap on e-bay. I've just been screwed over with time but, as I sit here in front of the website I'm supposed to be doing at work, I'm overcome with a desire not to do it at all so, I've decided to write a blog.

This one's gonna be about technology and how it effects us.

I recently read a statistic that suggested we receive 100 times the amount of information in a single day as our great grandparents did in their entire lifetimes. I was, at first, shocked, but after thinking about it, I believe it.

In our great grandparents day, they would go all day, every day, interacting with the same 3 to 100 people depending on where they lived. If they wanted to learn something they first had to know how to read... IF they knew how to read they MIGHT be able to get a newspaper. If they wanted to learn more they MIGHT be able to go to the library. That's it... that was the extent of the information they received day to day.

Today, if we want to know what's going on in a region half way around the world we can hop online and get information that may be updated, not just daily, but hourly. If we want to interact with someone we can engage in social networking where millions of people from all walks of life are ready willing and able to bullshit. If we would like to know more about something that captures our interest we can do so immediately and choose a variety of online resources to help balance out the information we receive.

So, I was thinking, how is it that we are capable of processing so much information? Is there a threshold? Are there negative consequences?

Our senses and brain has evolved to meet the demands of wicked step-mother nature. We have to be able to perceive our environment and process the information we receive very rapidly, and make a decision that effects our survival. Whether it was our ancient ancestors running from a grizzly bear or fathers checking out fox-holes in Viet Nam, the quick brain lives, the slow brain dies (for the most part, some things are unavoidable). But that evolutionary environment is a focused environment. We tend to process a handful of things at once and we're able to make decisions. Today we are bombarded by tons of stuff simultaneously and continuously. While, for the most part, our survival is not 100% dependant on the decisions we make... I wonder if there's an evolutionary component to our environment.

There certainly is a threshold. Apparently fighter pilots, who are regularly immersed within an environment that is more intense than any other environment on earth have been known to, on occasion, freeze up... not because they're scared or don't know what to do... but because their brains have overloaded. It takes a few moments for their brains to reset and deal with the information they receive but I wonder if, some day, we will start to see people freezing up at their computer stations as they are overloaded with information.

 

I don't know if there are negative consequences so much as just plain consequences. As a species, I'm sure we will evolve but evolution is not a pretty process... it's messy. For better or for worse, I'd much prefer to make a balanced assessment of who I'm going to choose to lead my country based on information from dozens of news sources than by simply relying on Fox News of CNN. As a species, we benefit tremendously from increased access to information. The question I have is, even though we are the computer generation, will we be able to keep up with our children and grand children?

Look at your grandparents and ask yourself, could they handle a computer in the same way you can? Now, ask yourself, will you be able to handle your grandchild's computer the way he or she will? Stay on top of technology grandpa, it's survival of the fittest out there.

Tagged with: Busy, Computers, Information, Internet, Technology