Information!

The past few days, I've been listening to a good many TED talks. One stuck out to me today- I think because it linked something that I love with something that causes me much stress! Mr. Rangaswami links food and information in this TED talk. 

Too often I realize my disconnected-ness and I start checking the BBC daily. Shortly thereafter, I get so overwhelmed by all the information from all over the world I slump back into ignorance. One of my co-workers is brainstorming with friends on the concept of a positive-only newscast. Only stories of hope, perseverance and positive ideas would make the cut for information being broadcast to the general public. I think it may be an extreme idea, but one that would counter the extreme media most of us encounter. 

Most of us are also at our computers for a large portion of the day. It makes it impossible not to browse the web, looking for who-knows-what just to pass the time. They've even created a website where people can re-post things to simply look at. It involves nothing they've created, discovered or necessarily intend to participate in- just more information and pictures to consume. 

This is what made this TED talk so intriguing to me. In our society, we tend to consume without thought. That is evident in our consumption of food, products and entertainment thrown at us daily by marketing companies. Our filters don't exist- or perhaps we just ignore them. What Mr. Rangaswami suggests is that we do the same with our information. He states that the problem is not information overload. Rather, it's a filter failure. We should think of our information intake the same way many dieters think of their calorie intake. Exercise of the mind is just as important as exercise of the body- intaking information that is important and good for our selves. Consumption control [or what some people might consider a diet] is just as important- to regulate what we think about, see and internalize.

I like this concept, because it creates a middle ground for the extremes most of us bounce back and forth between. On the one end, I'm  too caught up in every bit of news from around the world, all the latest movies and books and music, and blogs with new spins on old ideas. On the other, I find myself lost in solitude and avoidance of anything happening outside of what immediately affects me. Most of the time I think I'd rather be in that extreme. Living in a sort of Mary Oliver poem:

The dream of my life
Is to lie down by a slow river
And stare at the light in the trees-
To learn something by being nothing
A little while but the rich
Lens of attention. 

But as the poem ends (Entering the Kingdom- read it!), the crows come and we're taken back into normal society. We return to begin our reconciling of the extremes again, and I think Mr. Rangaswami is stepping in the right direction.