The Case of Too Many Inputs

I often have way too many inputs. I think I need to put myself on a mental diet with the constant barrage of information online, mostly coming from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, RSS feeds, email, email, email.

Too. Much. Noise.

I can’t hear myself think. And it’s not just the kids running around in circles breakdancing around the house. (Yes, I made the mistake of introducing that term to them. Now it’s all they want to do. “Daddy, we’re going to breakdance in the kitchen.”)

On the flip side, there are so many great resources out there. So much to learn. I don’t want to miss out on any of it. I know I need to get better at listening, and there are so many ways to listen nowadays. We live in the age of Big Data. It’s a blessing and a curse. The information is overwhelming, and so is the information about the information (which makes it metadata).

Of course, we all know that iron sharpens iron. We learn best from interacting with other people. From listening to them. You can’t listen only to your own thoughts. My own thoughts get old after a while like a broken record.

You can’t operate only on your own.

If you never listen to anyone, your ideas get stale after a while. You have to test them, share them, grow them by rubbing them up against other ideas. Watch what happens. Maybe there will be an amazing chemical reaction. Or it will fizzle and die. Maybe your idea isn’t as good as you thought. Or you are stuck with an idea and it isn’t going anywhere. Or too precious with your ideas, unwilling to share.

It’s the old existential question: if an idea is never shared, did it ever exist in the first place? It applies to art, and it applies to ideas as well. After all, art is just another way of expressing an idea.

So get out of your own head and talk to people! Two are better than one, for sure.

Back to the problem with too many inputs.

Your brain needs a bouncer.

In this day and age there is such a glut of information, so much noise. Total silence isn’t good, either. So what do you do?

You have to be very selective about what inputs you let into your life. Listen to anything and everything with discernment. The internet is a veritable buffet line. You can sample from just about everything there is to learn.

The key is to take stock and get rid of anything that is unhelpful. Be picky about who and what you let stay with you. Your brain needs a bouncer. Is this information really getting you where you want to go? (Do you know where you want to go?)

See, I find “Family Guy” entertaining, but I don’t need to keep watching it. It’s crude, juvenile, and degrading.

And I probably subscribe to too many RSS feeds and email newsletters. It’s not that many, compared to some people I know. But it’s overwhelming to me. I’ve lost interest in so many. Maybe you need to unsubscribe to mine. It won’t hurt my feelings if you do (yes it will but I’ll get over it.) It’s okay to delete what is just slowing you down, what has become just another thing to do, an item on a checklist. Or maybe some input is a negative influence. A few years ago I used to enjoy listening to Rage Against the Machine. Great music, but it always made me angry and start kicking things. So I had to quit that. Honestly, I haven’t missed it.

What inputs have you had to get rid of over the years? Or what inputs do you need to get rid of now?

Photo Credits:

• Rat’s nest of wires: William Hook via Compfight cc. Color/texture added by me, using Mextures.
• “Weniger Lärm” (“Stop Noise Pollution”) by Josef Müller-Brockmann (Swiss, 1914–1996) via MoMA. See also International Poster Gallery
• Share Sign: C!… via Compfight cc
• Bouncer: Anuj Biyani via Compfight cc