TOO MUCH INFORMATION?

There is no shingle on my house labeling me as a psychologist. And neither are there any letters after my name exalting me as being able to pile data higher and deeper. However, I found such qualifications were not necessary for the President of the Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives to express himself on the subject of the glut of information that confronts us every day. Statistics were once nearly buried in bound volumes of almanacs for specific years and only those who sought such data were exposed to pages and pages of sheer facts. Television easily beat out radio because we only heard statistics on the radio but television ‘s repetitious visual nature literally drills such information into our minds daily!

The term "breaking news" is dangled before us like the carrot before a donkey. Have you really ever seen a carrot on a string dangled before a donkey, I haven’t but perhaps there was one sometime or somewhere. Such breaking news is "leaked" between actual news stories and we are (hopefully) encouraged to stay tuned for such breaking news. Turning to another station only compounds the issue because they too give such breaking news announcements. After a while we become immune to such appeals because we have learned it usually wasn’t all that important after all.

Anthony J. Ahern, President & CEO of Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc. wrote: "Technology, which is vital to sustaining more than 6 billion people on our planet and the best hope for mankind to deal with the challenges of a growing world, now makes it possible for us to be bombarded with information 24 hours a day. Many people can check their e-mail or their investment portfolio from almost anywhere and at any time, and many do." Country Living, Volume 48, No. 11, August 2006.

I was relieved to find Mr. Ahern espousing philosophies similar to my own. Too much information drags down our mental computers and causes overloads not dissimilar to computer users. In fact, this issue is used as a tool (or a "want") to beef up our computer systems – "you need more memory" or "your processor is too small". Wants and needs have always been with us; it is a personal decision to know the difference.

One health personality, Dr. Andrew Weil, has even gone so far as to declare we need to "take a fast" from TV and radio regularly. Get away from it and give our minds a chance to relax. Could it be that there is a cost to such a bombardment of too much information which could reduce the ability to clear our heads so we can focus on the really important things.

Senior citizens have a term often used to defend such overloads: "I’m having a senior moment." If such overloads are experienced in your office or house, perhaps some prudential actions need to be taken. Even though all professional writers are paid on the basis of how wide spread their readership is, I am sure a few hundred or maybe thousand readers won’t be missed if some of us take a fast from "breaking news" or challenging headlines with "important" by-lines. Yes, and even take a break from your computer – how often do we really need to check our e-mail?

THE WORDWRIGHT