In 1985, Don DeLillo’s award-winning and influential novel White Noise was published. The novel was one of the first to discuss “Information Sickness” and what happens to us when we’re constantly exposed to the fire hose of information and noise that bombards us every day. While the release of White Noise predates the Internet, the 25-year-old novel seems more prophetic and relevant than ever.
The problem with Information Sickness is that many of us feel helpless, or even compelled, to keep consuming more and more information. How many times have you told yourself that you’re not going to check your email again tonight–or that you’re only going to check your Facebook or Twitter account twice a day? What if your iPhone stopped working for 48 hours? What would those 2 days be like for you?
Yes, there are even “forced sanctuaries” popping up around the country where, for a nice fee, they dump you in a cabin in the woods with no electronic access to the outside world. Sound like a nice respite…or hell on earth?
To my way of thinking, there is no denying that the Internet, Smart Phones and Social Media are permanently changing our brains (read more in my blog Is the Internet Making Us Stupid). But here’s the real question: Is that a bad thing? Is this just our brain’s way of adjusting to a new method of processing information–like we had to with radio and television? Or (cue scary music) are we approaching a scenario where we’re “addicted” to information, even if this endless consumption of information comes at the expense of our lucidity and serenity?
What do you think? How are you feeling?
Misinformation is even more readily available, and because it’s online, it’s given more credence than here-say. A larger problem is that even with correct information, we just know the fact itself, not the workings of how it came to be known as a fact. It’s trivia instead of knowledge. – j