"I can't think!" gave me a new outlook on the term "information overload". I had always used that term in a joking and non-serious manner, meaning that people were talking too much, too fast, and all at once, and my brain wasn't comprehending any of it. After reading this article I realized it does actually happen. Like the spark plugs in a car, our brains are wired to absorb information, and when the spark plugs go out, just like a car, our brains stop running, they simply shut down and can't retain any new information being presented.
I found it interesting that when our brains go in overload and begin to quake, we are forced to make mind-numbing decisions that affect us entirely. Our decision-making skills, which are key in this, and our emotions within our brains take a back seat and we are unable to process. We are paralyzed by the idea of making a wrong decision and the amount of information needed is overwhelming to say the least. It is funny to think that when we need to be rationale and make well-informed decisions, it is our inability to make those decisions that drives how we think.
We have brought the century of "information overload" upon ourselves. With the easy access to internet (googling every chance we get), Facebook, Twitter, E-mail, Wikipedia, and much more, we find ourselves trying to validate what we already know is true to ourselves and how we make our decisions. Our decisions can also be hindered by the mass media due to the fact that we can be influenced in our decision-making to change our minds much more simply than centuries past. Who knew a simple text message could ruin your thought process or decision-making at that time? I thought it was really interesting that studies have shown that if you respond to things like texts and emails in batches, and not right when they pop up on your blackberry or iPhone, you will have an all around better outlook on the decisions you made recently.
This article got me thinking: When given a choice of colleges, we all chose Western. But why did we all choose Western? Was it Bellingham that drew us here? Was it the major that we wanted to study? Was it our fascination with the Canadian culture and it being right there? Or was it friends and family telling us that Western was a good school?
That is so true that we talk about information overload, but never consider that it is actually happening to us. It does feel good to validate something we may be thinking or wondering, but we dont consider how this may be effect our brains or decisions we make from that.
ReplyDeleteYou are a great writer Katelynn! I really enjoyed reading your response and how thoughtful you were about it.
Hey, great response. I liked the way you made connections to your life and went deeper and thought about how this might have effected you (and the rest of us). I do think that we to some degree bring this upon ourselves with all the media/communication options we have. I also thought it was interesting that a text message could have such a drastic effect on your thinking as well as the bit about the emails, since that's definitely not how I do it.
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