Google is the new McDonalds: Dealing with Information Obesity
For 3.6 billion years, all life forms on earth worked extremely hard to get food and be efficient with energy consumption. No life on earth confronted with the problem of plenty. For 200,000 years humans were no different. However, in just 100 years we have now changed the problem completely opposite. The problem is now excess of food consumption and being "too efficient" at spending the calories. We have changed the nature of the wonder substance called fat into a dangerous thing.
The same is happening with information in the past 20 years. If 20th century introduced the epidemic of obesity, the 21st century is starting with the problem of information obesity. We are all facing an excess of information and like fat this excess information is working completely opposite to what it was originally intended. It slows our thought processes and threatens to cripple our internal system.
20 years ago, we were excited when we got a letter or a greeting card from a relative. Or an occassional phone call from a friend. Or the dose of morning newspaper. Now, when we see 200 unread emails in our inbox there is little room for excitement. We are dealing with sewage strewn all over.
In this world, Google is the new McDonalds. It provides really tasty information, really fast. However, at some point over-Googling might cause the same effects of fast foods. [As a matter of fact, in the past 15 years I have Googled so much that, occasionally Google thought me as a robot and asked me to captcha stuff].
Ways to deal with information obesity:
What is the best way to deal with fat? Use it, of course (through running or lifting weight). In the same way, the best way to deal with information obesity might be to make use of information - write your thoughts down (that will help you consolidate and get rid of fluff). Even better, use the information in a task - at work or elsewhere. Constantly do. That will get rid of all types of obesity.
Go on a diet. With regular obesity, we often get on to diets. The same could be done with information obesity. Regulate your consumption and strictly follow the rules. Don't check email often. Don't subscribe to a lot of RSS feeds. Don't worry about missing stuff on your Twitter feeds.
Digest properly. Increase your metabolism and digest the information. This can be done through deliberate thought processes. For every page of reading, spend a couple of minutes of thinking, connecting and assimilation.
Most people might not face the pain yet. However, in the next 10 years, information obesity will be a global health problem. Obesity doesn't kill people. However, obesity will lead to things that will kill you (heart blocks, diabetes). In the same way, information obesity while not killing you directly, might lead to your early death in the form of hypertension, increased confusion, increased risk of psychological disorders, increased distraction (producing alcohol like effects).