Yourecomingofageina24/7mediaenvironmentthat

bombardsuswithallkindsofcontentandexposesustoallkindsofarguments,someofwhichdontalways
rankthathighonthetruthmeter.AndwithiPodsandiPadsandXboxesandPlayStationsinformation
becomesadistractiom,adiversion,aformofentertainment,ratherthanatoolofempowerment,ratherthanthe
meansofemancipation.Allofthisisnotonlyputtingpressureonyou,itsputtingnewpressureonourcountry
andonourdemocracy.

PresidentBarackObama,2010CommencementAddressatHamptonUniversity,Virginia

Thetroublewithtodayssnarkypipsqueakswhobreakoffasentenceortwo,orwhowriteacoupleofmean
paragraphs,isthattheydontgofarenoughtheydonthaveacoherentviewoflife.Spinningaroundinthe
mediafrommomenttomoment,theydontstandforanything,pushforanythingtheyremereopportunists
withoutdedication,andtheydontwinanyvictories.

DavidDenby,
Snark:ItsMean,ItsPersonal,andItsRuiningOurConversation
(2009)

Nothingnecessarilyfollowsfromanythingelse.Sequencebecomesmerelyadditiveinsteadofcausativethe
imagesbereftofmemory,speakingtotheirownreflectionsinavocabularybettersuitedtothesaleofaproduct
thantothearticulationofthought.

LewisLapham,
GagRule:

OntheSuppressionofDissentandStiflingofDemocracy
(2004)

Allthisendlessbackandforthisrelevantonlyasitillustrates,byexample,distractionanddiversionin
action,masqueradingaspartofapublicdiscourse.Thisishowweinteractnow,bymouthingoff,steeringevery
conversationbacktoouragendas,skimmingthesurfaceofeachsubjectlookingforanopportunitytospew.We
seeitonblogsandinemails,ontelevisiontalkshows,inpublicmeetingsandcommunityforumswearea
culturethatseemsunabletoconcentrate,topursuealineofthoughtortolerateaconflictingpointofview
Whereistheengagement,thedeeperreading,thesenseofwhat,exactly,isatstake?Howdowepausewhenwe
mustknoweverythinginaninstant?Howdoweruminatewhenweareconstantlyexpectedtorespond?Howdo
weimmerseinsomething(anidea,anemotion,adecision)whenwearenolongerwillingtogiveourselvesthe
timeandspacetoreflect?
Asouroversaturatedculturecollapsesintoaneverpresentnow,farmorecommonisafeelingofdrift,
bothmentalandemotional,inwhichtimeandcontextbecomeunmoored.Theworldisalwaystoocloseat
hand.Youcancheckyouremailinaninstant,andtwenty,thirtytimesaday,wedo.Whatarewelookingfor?
Something,everything,awayofstayingontopoftheinformationitdoesntmatter.Thelookingisanend
untoitself.Itallseemssoimportantinthemoment,andyetnoneofitsticks.Thattheconversationrarely
changesisnotaproblem,eitheritisentirelythepoint.Wedontwanttobechallengedbuttobesoothed.

DavidL.Ulin,
TheLostArtofReading:WhyBooksMatterinaDistractedTime
(2010)

Itsnot
what
youthink,its
how
youthinkthatmatters.


ChristopherHitchens,CSPAN2MediaPanelDiscussion,1997

Thetestofafirstrateintelligenceistheabilitytoholdtwoopposedideasinthemindatthesametime,and
stillretaintheabilitytofunction.

F.ScottFitzgerald,
TheCrackUp
(1936)

In2008,Americansconsumedinformationforabout1.3trillionhours,anaverageofalmost12hoursperday.
Consumptiontotaled3.6zettabytesand10,845trillionwords,correspondingto100,500wordsand34gigabytes
foranaveragepersononanaverageday.[100,000wordsisequivalenttoa300pagenovel.]

GlobalIndustryCenteratUniversityofCalifornia,SanDiego,studyinDecember2009

Neverbeforeinhumanhistoryhaveourbrainshadtoprocessasmuchinformationastheydotoday.Wehave
agenerationofpeoplewhoaresobusyprocessinginformationfromalldirectionstheyarelosingthetendency
tothinkandfeel.Andmuchofwhattheyareexposedtoissuperficial.Peoplearesacrificingdepthandfeeling
andbecomingcutoffanddisconnectedfromotherpeople.

Dr.EdwardHallowell,psychitristandADDresearcher,quotedinGICstudy,2009

MyexperienceiswhatIagreetoattendto.OnlythoseitemswhichInoticeshapemymindwithoutselective
interest,experienceisutterchaos.

WilliamJames,
Pschology
(1905)

Wearerelegatingmoreandmoreofourmentaloperationstovarioustechnologies,withdigitaldevices
increasinglyactingasprosthesesforourfaculties.Weentrustoursenseofspatialorientationtosatellite
navigationsystemswegivemathematicalcalculationsovertotheappropriategadgets.Indeed,thetemptationis
toletthecomputerdomuchofthethinkingforus.WecancutandpastefragmentsfromtheInternetandhope
thatthecollageaddsuptosomethingcoherent,orinterestinglydisjunctive.Certainly,wehavelessneedto
rememberinformationourselveswhensomuchcanbestoredinourcomputersmemory.Thefeatsofmemory
recordedinoralcultures,orperformedbySovietpoetsandwritersundercensorship,seemhardlycredible
withinourzeitgeist.NadezhdaMandelstammemorizedallofherhusbandspoetrybecauseitwastoohazardous
towriteitdown.SolzhenitsyncommittedtomemoryeachpagehewrotewhenhewasimprisonedintheGulag,
andthendestroyedtheevidence.Suchpowersofretentionareunimaginabletousandtheymaybecomeeven
moreso,aswetransfermemorytothemanystorageplacesavailabletoustheretobefiledaway,forinstant
andeffortlessretrieval.
Bytransposingaspectsofthoughtandmemorytotechnologyweareexternalizingourmental
operations.Butboththemindandthepsycherequireinternality.

EvaHoffman,
Time
,2010

PrinceEa,CanWeAutocorrectHumanity?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRl8EIhrQjQ