Image courtesy NY Times/HMI Report/UC San Diego
I just read an article in the NY Times describing a study from the University of California that calculated how much information the average American ingests per year.
The results? A staggering 34 gigabytes per day, or roughly 3.6 zettabytes. To get a grip on this, a zettabyte is 1 with 21 zeros after it, or one billion trillion bytes. That's a lot of data.
The study also said that about 100,000 words enter our field of vision every day. Not that we read that many words, but still, if you think of cereal boxes, car commercials, billboards, skimming magazines, etc., there's a TON of stuff out there that our brain is constantly trying to process.
Perhaps most disturbingly, nearly half of that data ingested comes from television - "bubble gum for the eyes", as Steve Allen called it - with a scant 8% coming from printed media like books.
However, this information does not suggest people aren't reading anymore, according to U of C researchers. They found that a majority of time spent online actually was reading, in the form of blogs, articles and other forms of research.
This leads me to two questions: 1) What are we reading and 2) When do we give our brains a chance to "unplug"?
In the old days, the end of the day ("sunset" to us old-timers) signified when you stopped working. Not so much these days.
Since the introduction of electricity into our homes and lives, all we have to do now is flip a switch and we can keep working or doing whatever we were doing. While this benefit is not evil in and of itself, the repurcussions of our frequent misuse of such a blessing can lead to a constantly distracted mind, filled with other peoples ideas, complaints, desires, worries, adventures, failures and successes.
Sitting around the fire, in the past, was an opportunity to unwind, almost meditatively, and reflect on your life and your day, usually while in the company of others. Our replacement for this has become TV and the internet, conjuring images of individuals hunched over their computer in a dark room, the pale bluish light penetrating their eyes and souls, further blurring the line between what is "real" and what is "virtual" (not to mention blurring their physical eyesight as well".
In "Wherever You Go, There You Are", by Jon Kabat-Zinn, the author describes this phenomenon in great detail:
"Fire was a comfort to us, our source of heat, light and protection–dangerous, but, with great care, controllable. Sitting by it gave us relaxation at the end of the day. In it's warm, flickering light, we could tell stories and talk about the day past, or just sit silently, seeing the reflection of our minds in the ever-changing flames..."
Sounds nice, right? The point is, when we didn't have a choice, but rather had to stop working because we couldn't see, we stopped. We paused. We separated our "work" from our "relaxation". The problem with having the ability to be connected, online and lit up all the time is that many of us abuse the privilige like junkies. We check facebook on our phones while in the bathroom. We email in bed. We watch tv during dinner. We listen to the news while making breakfast (if we even make breakfast).
Going further, Kabat-Zinn recalls how "fires are impractical [today] or an occasional luxury to set a certain mood", rather than something we humans need for survival. "We can light up our world as brightly as we want and keep going with our lives, filling all our waking hours with busyness (busy-ness > busi-ness > business) -- with DOING. Life gives us scant time for BEING these days–unless we seize it on purpose."
Let's use this study as a wake-up call to remember that just because we CAN keep working and chatting and buzzing and tweeting at all hours of the day, doesn't necessarily mean we should. Take time to just BE. Relax. Stare at the mountains, or the ocean waves, or a gentle stream, or watch the wind carry through the trees.
Better yet, sit down, close your eyes and look within your self. Rather than consuming more and more information every day, see if you can get by with less, and let your inner voice be heard. A daily meditation practice can be a potent antidote to the disease of "information-itis".
It may take a little while to get started, just like a real fire, and it may go out occasionally, but if you continue to stoke the flames, give it plenty of fuel (time) and oxygen (your breath), I promise it can be just as good as sitting around an actual fire - without getting any smoke in your eyes.
***
The results? A staggering 34 gigabytes per day, or roughly 3.6 zettabytes. To get a grip on this, a zettabyte is 1 with 21 zeros after it, or one billion trillion bytes. That's a lot of data.
The study also said that about 100,000 words enter our field of vision every day. Not that we read that many words, but still, if you think of cereal boxes, car commercials, billboards, skimming magazines, etc., there's a TON of stuff out there that our brain is constantly trying to process.
Perhaps most disturbingly, nearly half of that data ingested comes from television - "bubble gum for the eyes", as Steve Allen called it - with a scant 8% coming from printed media like books.
However, this information does not suggest people aren't reading anymore, according to U of C researchers. They found that a majority of time spent online actually was reading, in the form of blogs, articles and other forms of research.
This leads me to two questions: 1) What are we reading and 2) When do we give our brains a chance to "unplug"?
In the old days, the end of the day ("sunset" to us old-timers) signified when you stopped working. Not so much these days.
Since the introduction of electricity into our homes and lives, all we have to do now is flip a switch and we can keep working or doing whatever we were doing. While this benefit is not evil in and of itself, the repurcussions of our frequent misuse of such a blessing can lead to a constantly distracted mind, filled with other peoples ideas, complaints, desires, worries, adventures, failures and successes.
Sitting around the fire, in the past, was an opportunity to unwind, almost meditatively, and reflect on your life and your day, usually while in the company of others. Our replacement for this has become TV and the internet, conjuring images of individuals hunched over their computer in a dark room, the pale bluish light penetrating their eyes and souls, further blurring the line between what is "real" and what is "virtual" (not to mention blurring their physical eyesight as well".
In "Wherever You Go, There You Are", by Jon Kabat-Zinn, the author describes this phenomenon in great detail:
"Fire was a comfort to us, our source of heat, light and protection–dangerous, but, with great care, controllable. Sitting by it gave us relaxation at the end of the day. In it's warm, flickering light, we could tell stories and talk about the day past, or just sit silently, seeing the reflection of our minds in the ever-changing flames..."
Sounds nice, right? The point is, when we didn't have a choice, but rather had to stop working because we couldn't see, we stopped. We paused. We separated our "work" from our "relaxation". The problem with having the ability to be connected, online and lit up all the time is that many of us abuse the privilige like junkies. We check facebook on our phones while in the bathroom. We email in bed. We watch tv during dinner. We listen to the news while making breakfast (if we even make breakfast).
Going further, Kabat-Zinn recalls how "fires are impractical [today] or an occasional luxury to set a certain mood", rather than something we humans need for survival. "We can light up our world as brightly as we want and keep going with our lives, filling all our waking hours with busyness (busy-ness > busi-ness > business) -- with DOING. Life gives us scant time for BEING these days–unless we seize it on purpose."
Let's use this study as a wake-up call to remember that just because we CAN keep working and chatting and buzzing and tweeting at all hours of the day, doesn't necessarily mean we should. Take time to just BE. Relax. Stare at the mountains, or the ocean waves, or a gentle stream, or watch the wind carry through the trees.
Better yet, sit down, close your eyes and look within your self. Rather than consuming more and more information every day, see if you can get by with less, and let your inner voice be heard. A daily meditation practice can be a potent antidote to the disease of "information-itis".
It may take a little while to get started, just like a real fire, and it may go out occasionally, but if you continue to stoke the flames, give it plenty of fuel (time) and oxygen (your breath), I promise it can be just as good as sitting around an actual fire - without getting any smoke in your eyes.
***
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