hello my love,
it's getting cold on this island.
i'm sad alone,
i'm so sad on my own.
the truth is,
we were much too young.
now i'm looking for you,
or anyone like you.
- koop
i know what you're thinking, but it's not true. despite the gloomy beginning, this isn't going to be some morose, melancholy tripe, cheaply whoring for karma points through a perverse appeal to forlorn emotion. for shame!
in fact, the mood is excellent here at Hero-Headquarters as i gear up for another day in the life. i'm sorry about the ruse, really i am. the truth is, i figured something had to be done to get your attention amidst the putative, plodding scrawl that has become everyone's facebook newsfeed. the trifle trough would be a more apt description, but let's not get bogged down in semantics quite so early.
today, i want to talk about something – an experiment i've been conducting – which has had a profound and positive impact on my life in only three short weeks. the product of said experiment has yielded some surprising and delightful results, examples of which are increased energy and productivity, expanded (expanding!) creative mental space, more free time, and longer spells of uninterrupted tranquility. the phrasing of this last part is sure to vex skeptical, impatient, insatiable readers – but bear with me if you can. i know most of you are hankering to go back to facebook, but first, let me explain myself a little.
it'll be worth your while. i promise.
approximately three weeks ago, after a long day's work, i was plopped comfortably at my desk, haphazardly browsing reddit, como siempre, when i came across an article entitled The Low Information Diet.
i'd recommend reading this and (many) other articles on the Mr.MoneyMustache website, but if it's a choice between him or me, you can stay right here while i break down the gist of it for you.
the Low-Information Diet is exactly what it sounds like. it is the conscious monitoring and (highly) selective culling of the information you expose yourself to. the idea is to be exposed to as little information as possible, only allowing that which you need to enter your mental orbit and be registered on your psychological tarmac.
in other words: NO facebook, NO reddit, NO stumbleupon, NO magazines, NO newspapers, NO television, NO sports, and NO news. one more time because this last part is very important: NO SPORTS. NO NEWS. of any kind. at all. period.**
now, this kind of advice is often considered radical and hardly ever accepted or followed by most people. they will typically offer different reasons (often a raft of reasons) and justifications for their information intake. some are capable of being more articulate than others, but when the veneer is stripped off, it ultimately boils down to a single inference:
"i do it because i want to. because i like it and enjoy it. it gives me pleasure, and i don't need some two-bit hack who doesn't know anything about me to lecture me on what is and what isn't information that i need, want, or should have."
don't worry, i won't hold it against you that you called me a hack, and while it may be true that i don't exactly know what information you need, i will continue to content that i do know what info you don't need, indeed – what is detrimental and insidiously dismantling you from the inside.
to put it in different terms, all of the aforementioned sources of information are the equivalent of mental junk food. and i'm not talking about a can of soda or the occasional burger either – we're talking grease trays funneled into you with a pneumatic pump. we're talking about unprecedented, crippling, debilitating amounts of sugar, cholesterol, clogging agents, tar, and toxins intravenously administered daily.
to momentarily stretch the metaphor, there is no difference between your body and your mind. they are one and the same. indeed, the optimal function of one is wholly dependant on the other. therefore, a sedentary 'intellectual' who scoffs or belittles another for being 'obsessed with fitness' or 'meat-headed' is no more an imbecile than one who shudders at the idea of smoking a cigarette, but spends three-plus hours a day 'browsing' facebook.
the thing is, we all (whether we act on it or not) know about the dangers and long-term effects of physical indulgences such as cigarettes, alcohol, caffeine, sugar, etc. alas, we have virtually no idea about the dangers of mental and psychological toxins, and so we indiscriminately indulge in and binge on information without the slightest idea of how damaging our information-addiction is to our mental health.
now, at this point, a couple of salient admonitions must be made.
for starters, if you happen to experience any cognitive dissonance about how i am simultaneously bashing facebook as well as advertising my work on there, well – in the words of the late, great George Carlin – you're gonna have to figure that shit out on your own, okay?
second: it's important to dispel the myth that some information may not be essential, but remains harmless anyway. things such as a quick poke around imgur, or checking out last night's episode of the daily show, a few funny youtube videos, a scan of reddit's worldnews section, espn for the scores, truthdigg, cracked, thehuffingtonpost, politico, economist, or reason.com, and a host of other on-the-surface polished, intelligent, inspiring, or entertaining medians of information – they all apply. they all must go. no exceptions. i'm sorry.
why?
because you, like me, are of above-average intelligence. and like me, you're sick and tired of not operating at your optimum level of creativity, imagination, production, analysis, thought-processing, and decision-making.
when was the last time you read a book? or the last time you read 1 book per week for a sustained period of three months? you know why not? because of facebook (and her sister minions). you can lie to yourself and say otherwise. you can say that it's your kid, your job, or your spouse that takes up most of your time. but you'd be lying. to me, and to yourself. the truth? it's your information intake that steals your time, saps your psychological acumen, and clutters your mental space with pointless, useless rubbish.
but all this is besides the point.
i'm not here to convince you of anything, but rather talk about the conclusions i've arrived at during the course of the low-information experiment of the last three weeks.
anyone who knows me will also know that i used to be (and still am) an internet junkie. i LOVE the internet. there is an endless stream of delicious information waiting to be devoured. a myriad websites to explore. things to watch, read, and ponder. why should i relinquish the things i love? how can information be bad?
well, it can. and it is. and it only takes a few weeks of abstinence to suddenly feel the space being cleared and created in your mind. to borrow from a popular internet meme: so much space for activities! go study a new language, join a new class, learn a new skill, start a new hobby, and for goodness sake, join a gym and go pick up a new book. today.
i have no idea what's gone on in the world over the last three weeks. i don't know who won what game, i don't know what's happening in the ukraine, venezuela, syria, or the states. i don't know who won an oscar, i don't know what country won medals in sochi, i don't know who jon stewart had on his show last night, what's happened with edward snowden, or how some backwoods american town dealt with weather-related emergencies – AND I DON'T CARE.
and neither should you.
and it's okay. everything is going to be okay.
one of the most valuable gifts we all have is our MIND. and mind does not (and cannot) discriminate or differentiate between substantial, constructive information and endless waters of shoal feelgooderies. it devours what it is given. it registers the input, no matter what it is. it is YOU, then, who must take responsibility. you must be the arbiter. you must select with prudence what you choose to expose your mind to. and everything matters; nothing is too small.
give it a try and see what happens. give yourself the gift of thought, the gift of mental freedom, the gift of tranquility, the gift of creativity, and stop deluding yourself into thinking that it's all a bit of harmless fun to spend an hour looking at pictures of cats. it's not. it is not. it really is not.
we said goodbye,
with the smile on our faces.
now you're alone,
you're so sad on your own.
the truth is,
we ran out of time.
now you're looking for me,
or anyone like me.
sublime.
_______________
**
it's quite important to clarify here that i am advocating a LOW-information diet, not a NO-information diet. however, for the purposes of effect, this point is being made here instead of in the main body of this essay.
i still check my FB about once a week to see if people have tried to contact me, twitter still continues to be a daily indulgence, and i did manage to set aside time to watch the canadian hockey games during the recent olympic games. (YEA BABY!)
it's not about being amish, and it certainly isn't about being ignorant. instead, the names of the game are prudence, discernment, and discretion. you must transform the process of your information intake from an unconscious to a conscious one. you must know what you're doing. you must treat your minutes as precious. your mental space as finite. and your tranquility as sacred.
if you want to know how barcelona played on the weekend, then check the score! but don't spend thirty minutes poking around the website. if you want to see pictures of your best friend's new baby, go on her FB page! but don't spend an hour browsing the newsfeed reading about people's bowel movements and recent home-renovation projects. take in what you need, and leave the rest alone, and always remember: cool guys don't look at explosions.