We live in a society of drug addicts. Your best friend is probably one. So is your family. And odds are, so are you. Yet your drug isn’t one of the usual suspects, it’s much subtler, much quieter, without any social stigma, and possibly, because of these reasons, much more dangerous.
That drug is information.
As a 15 year old, I’ve grown up with information permeating through every aspect of my existence. I need to know what my friends are doing 24/7 - first on Facebook, heck if I’ve checked Facebook, why not Instagram, and if that is done, there’s always Snapchat.
I mustn’t forget the endless stream of content produced on platforms like Youtube, like watching your favourite vlogger tell you to live live to the fullest while you watch, secluded, from your room, or Buzzfeed, because watching “BFFs Take A Caribbean Cruise For The First Time” is a valuable use of my time.
And so, over the past few months, I’ve realised that most of the content we consume online is completely useless.
This is the first time in history that humans have been exposed to so much information. And the speed at which the Internet was adopted means that we are utterly unprepared to deal with the sheer amount of it, and the effects this much information has on us.
How many of us can say that they haven’t, even once, fallen down a rabbit hole of links, moving from one to the next, from one Google search to another, with no clearly defined purpose, perhaps even aware of the futility of the behaviour, yet still continued?
Our societies biggest and most influential companies — Google, Facebook, and Apple, all rely on your need for information. It is, perhaps, because of our thirst for it that these companies have reached the levels of influence that they have today.
If we want to loosen the grasp of the need to be informed on ourselves, we must first understand why exactly we yearn so much information in the first place.
As primitive humans, we were wired to seek out things that would improve our chances of survival. Things like sugary foods, higher social status, and information. Why information? According to this article in Scientific American, it’s because:
Having access to more relevant information — such as knowing where the food is located — allows animals to make better decisions. Furthermore, having access to such information might give us better control over our environment, thus increasing our chances of survival.