Bombardment of knowledge

In recent days, we , as society, at least the ones on social media , are really into what we put inside our body. There is a lot of knowledge we see being bombarded on what food is good and what is not, everyone is learning vegan, plant based food – and hundred other things. It is really good that majority people are questioning fast food , easy choices and trying to explore better options, and we will talk about it soon enough in other areas at Revenir.

Although, something that fascinated me is the way we focus so much about what we put inside our body, and how much moderation is the key there. When it comes to the other equal and most important part of us, we are in a totally different perspective as a majority when it comes to our minds.

Today, with everything becoming so accessible, we indeed have world at our fingertips. We have people telling us what is best to eat in our town, what is best to travel when we visit a new place, what clothes to buy from where, what movies and shows to “binge” this weekend, whom to listen to for the life advice, and what to read because it is bestseller.

We also get a lot of knowledge about everything, thanks to our algorithms of social media, once you hit a like on something, you are just shown the same thing! Just because you liked that reel with that song, now every reel that is ever made with that song is going to pop up in your suggestions and you are going to watch it- because meh!

For any newly launched art, social media has become a promotional medium- where people promote things for money ; and because they can reach out to more people, with supposed filters, songs, followers, hashtags - it becomes popular. Now, when you are scrolling on a Friday afternoon, and you have just 4 hours to spare to watch good “art” on weekend, you will pick up what’s popular, because of course, if so many people are talking about it – it must be worth my time.

And of course, you don’t want to have FOMO, so you watch it, consume it – read it, watch it , share it ahead to show the world that you haven’t missed out, and the cycle continues.

Now, today there is a LOT, a LOT of things being made, being put out in the world, and we keep consuming it, because what else is there to do? We are working overtime at our jobs, businesses, and then when it comes to relaxation and leisure, you also have to keep up with what everyone’s doing- you buy that bestseller book that promises that you will be epic after you read it and watch that movie which has supposedly moved millions.

As a growing professional, guilt free consumption is another aspect of why we keep on collecting all this knowledge. Because movies, reels on social media are considered not so good ways of spending your time, the self proclaimed intellectuals do it in a different way, to set them apart from the class. So, they invest in getting good journals, subscribing to the best business magazines, or watch the shows & movies from “30 best for intellectuals” list, to feel like we are living the life that’s expected of us – to be really recognized as intellectuals. Many of us have also done those “How many books you read this year”, as that is the measure of how smart you are, we will write about this race to read books soon.

We have a lot that life throws at us everyday, then we throw some more social media, then we add some intellectual things that we need to do , and of course – working in a corporate learning team, I know there is another bombardment of things that your profession wants you to learn, and after being exhausted by all of these things, we go to the art therapy, libraries, stand ups to feel “relaxed”. Even though it’s fun, it is still bombardment of things at our brain.

Learning and experiencing new things have always been looked at with awe, fascination and something “good”. No-one raises an eyebrow when someone when they say they read 30 books in last year. But it is still a bombardment on senses and brain.

Now, social media is designed to get you addicted to it, one could compare it to the fast food – it’s easy, it looks nice, it feels good immediately, so of course you are going to fall for it! Linked technologies these days also play a role, how something you searched on google, immediately shows up in your Instagram ads or vice versa. It almost feels like there is no space to have an independent thought.

There is always consumption, in one form or the other, one consumption leading to another, never ending. Of course, knowledge is valuable – and no matter what form we consume it, it is still knowledge. But the value of knowledge is recognized by how much of it is translating it into wisdom. We go through all of these things, with the ultimate motive of feeling good, but we end up feeling overwhelmed because there is so much to do, so much to see, so much to experience – and of course we don’t have time because we are busy researching about our bucket list items which are based on someone else’s bucket list item because it looked pretty.

I realized how okay I got with this dependency, I let the technology choose what am I going to buy, or watch that weekend. Until, one day I was talking to my dad, and he mentioned a movie that he recently watched on Netflix. I watched it and of course, it was amazing. It is not famous at all – neither on social media nor on those top 10 lists. Now, he loves watching different shows and movies and regularly watches OTT. What he doesn’t have is Instagram. He doesn’t follow any trends, influencers – and he thinks those top 10 lists are bullshit on any OTT. So, he goes into his profile on Netflix, looks at posters and descriptions of shows and movies, not the ones on first page, and picks what he thinks he might like. Sometimes, it turns out to be a bad pick, but most times, he finds great entertainment and he always has the best recommendations. Of course, technology and OTT has made it easy for him to access and watch these movies and shows, but he is still independent to watch what he likes genuinely.

To understand, up to what level – we let other factors lead our lives, I would invite you to do this activity, and design your ways so you can make technology your bitch. I am going to write a series of articles on this topic, and its going to take much more than those “Digital wellbeing” settings in our phones to actually undermine the influence of mindless influencing on our minds.