Saturday, April 11, 2009

The Problem with Information

I have been doing a great deal of processig about my constant anxiety
and how information intersects with it.

I just had a thought: Perhaps the deluge of information we imbibe
(through indie or mainstream media, conversations with others, books
we read, etc.) reallocates our emotional resources to problems "out
there" when in reality all we might be able to address are our own
problems.

The question "How do people (and groups) change?" has been with me a
long time. How to "pastor" people and how best to see change in my own
life might simply lie in how I respond to my immediate world. That
sounds small and even selfish...the suggestion that I cannot solve
poverty "out there" but only "in here".

I have been all over the map in my responses to the question of
change, but this makes sense to me currently.

I rage against it, but feel it all the same: " Change yourself and you
change the world."

This toes in with earlier posts I've made about limiting our intake of
information. I wonder if I should consider the flip side of that coin:
Limiting the contribution of new or synthesized information (like
blogging, fb, etc.) Does it distract from "real life"?

1 comment:

Michael said...

i think "does it distract from real life" is a great question.

it is a lot easier to quest for more information and ideas than it is to stop, and build something makeshift and temporary with what i have. i recognize that request for noise to drown out my own quiet and seemingly pathetic truth.