I Suffer From a High-Information Diet

Yup, that’s right, I suffer from a high-information diet. I’m a self-professed information junkie. Although I’ve enjoyed knowing a little bit about a lot of things for my entire life, after I noticed Ava’s developmental delays I became a full-fledged information junkie. When a doctor tells you that your child is on the autism spectrum, how can you not get on a high-information diet?

So today, as I was reading through my various news site subscriptions, I came across an article titled “The dangers of a high-information diet.” This was obviously an instant click title for me. With the Internet, we are exposed to more information at any given point in our day than at any point pre-internet. As a student, I also have access to hundreds of peer-reviewed journals and other subscription-based online resources. Heck, I put ‘reading medical journals’ on the first part of my 50 Fun Things list. It is easy to go into information overload, really easy.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

“[W]e live in the information age – and the stuff that risks doing the damage is information itself. As certain scientists and philosophers see it, the discovery and dissemination of knowledge is far from being an unqualified boon. We might be in danger of knowing too much. “Information can potentially be extremely dangerous,” says philosopher Nick Bostrom, director of the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford. “The effects arising from knowledge can be momentous.” Source: NewScientist

Do you suffer from a high-information diet? After reading the article, do you think that too much information may not be a good thing?

Photo: dalbera

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