Information Overload

Today I’m going to weigh in on the many news stories that saturate our 24x7 day. The 24-hour instantaneous news cycle has created fanatical news junkies who stay glued to the cable channels, IPOD, cell phone, and internet around the clock. I’ll admit I stay much more up to date on local, state, national, and international events than ever before. But what I can’t assess is the value of knowing all of this up to the minute information. I do know the effort involved consumes time; therefore, it should produce some value.Add to this preoccupation in knowing things immediately the growing number of emails coming at you from all directions and pretty soon you’re covered up with electronic overload. I well remember how that the unbundling of all forms of telecommunications was going to lead to a greater level of competitiveness and lower cost to every consumer. While perhaps the actual cost for a residential telephone line may be less per month in real terms, if you look at the total cost of all forms of telecommunications I think you will find a much larger percentage of the monthly expense pie being spent by each person.

The attitude born mostly from marketing that we can’t live without this being “plugged in and online all the time” has to a certain extent captivated most if not all of us. While I think it’s great my mom and her siblings who are all in their eighties can use email and cell phones to stay in touch, for most there is a certain amount of lost productivity involved in the process. I admire those who have determined not to be manipulated and controlled by technologies. Many of these folks well know how to use the systems available and they do when it suits a specific purpose, but they discipline themselves not to become a slave to the next missed message or the up to the second news flash.

Because the cards are stacked and everyone from entertainment to retailing and business has a vested interest in promulgating this phenomenon, it’s really tough to weigh the value versus cost or the good versus evil inherent in living in the “instant information age”. No doubt there are many wonderful breakthroughs associated with technology advancements while also many pitfalls that must be recognized and avoided. Solomon once said, “There is nothing new under the sun.” He was likely talking mostly about the way in which people utilize all that becomes available for in the end he summarized the test of life by saying it is well lived if one: “Fears God and keeps His commandments”. Something to think about as we blog our way into the future. (Solomon’s quotes taken from Ecclesiastes) More later…………….