Reasonably Unplugged
Paying attention to the world. And not.
If a writer is someone who pays attention to the world, as Susan Sontag said, then I am a terrible writer.
Ever since I stopped being extremely online and having an almost dark compulsion to be “informed” (feed my anxiety and fuel my anger on a myriad of topics), I have existed in a bubble where, apart from the truly stunning and unavoidable such as the untimely, shocking death of vice president Saulos Chilima, I learn about stuff well after they’re considered pressing.
Today, for instance, was the day I found out about the deeply awful sexual abuse allegations against Neil Gaiman which first surfaced about a week ago. Then through reading a post serendipitously titled, “When someone you really like turns out to really suck”, I found out Julianna Margulies, a woman I have ached and lusted for since I was a teenager got into a media shitstorm over a podcast in which she made some choice (callous) comments. THAT WAS SEVEN MONTHS AGO!
Don’t even get me started on local news. On that front, I’m dumber than people who think prayer can cure poverty. I’m almost actively ignorant and a not small part of me will try my very best to make sure it stays that way. Besides, the news is basically always a variation of: “Malawi? Still a shit show.” And if the news is celebrity gossip then I just end up getting confused about who is who again to get invested.
Anyway, I’m not here to advocate being uninformed. I just think it’s a good idea to be mindful of how quickly and how much we consume information and whether your current media diet is doing you more harm than good. It’s good to let some things pass you by. It’s also good not to submit to the avalanche of information presented to us all the damn time. Information overload and information addiction are real and unhealthy for one’s mind.
Personally, I have found that being out of the loop has done a great deal for my mental health. I’m not going to lie to you and say I don’t sometimes find myself inundated with an abundance of media that ultimately offers no real value or adds more to my life than being a cheap dopamine hit. I’m a human being with access to the internet in the year 2024. It’s bound to happen. What I do try to do is try to minimise the brain rot by avoiding shit like doom scrolling or seeking out bad/nasty news.
If that means I’m less of a writer, according to Sontag’s adage, then so be it. I’ll do better with a head filled with less noise than what the world wants it to have rather than a noggin full of information it doesn’t have the capacity to healthily process.
That’s it from me this week. I’ll leave you with two more links that might interest you:
For the writers → Susan Sontag on Being a Writer: “You Have to Be Obsessed”
“As the volume increases, the line between the worthwhile and the distracting starts to blur. And ready access to you—via e-mail, social networking, and so on—exacerbates the situation.” – Paul Hemp, Death by Information Overload
Have a splendid Friday and a great weekend!
