The other day, I stumbled upon Quora where people go to ask questions and get answers. After a bit of exploration, I decided it was an app worth using. Today, I was intrigued by this title “Internet, I love you but you need some god damn perspective”. The author, Jaap Grolleman, asked why we care more about who is playing the next Batman than we care about Syria. Well, as you can guess the comments mostly leaned towards the fact that we are a simple-minded society and that the media points us in the direction that we should go.
I too have wondered why oil spills and hurricanes quickly move out of the news while celebrities stay in the news. Is it because paying attention to what celebrities are doing keeps us from having to get involved in the real issues that are happening around us? What about TV shows. I hear more conversations around the office fictional TV shows than I do about about current events.
The Internet has many news outlets if we are willing to seek them. Google will serve as our translator if we ask. So, I am not convinced that anyone, of at least average intelligence, is being forced down a path. I believe that it is easy to follow the crowd, accept what is presented, and move on. One thing that Facebook has taught me is that people don’t like to disagree with what is thought to be a popular opinion.
I do keep up with current events as much as the Twitter accounts that I follow allow. However, I could certainly do more but I will admit that takes effort that I am not currently willing to put forth. However, there are people who do go against the status quo and seek out news and information that conflicts with the popular opinion. I have known many in my lifetime. Unfortunately, they are often in the minority. We choose what how much or how little we want to know about a topic. We are definitely more comfortable when the information that we receive agrees with the mental models that we have created, which reduces the amount of time that we have to spend thinking. However, seeking knowledge and challenging myself to think and question information is an exercise that I enjoy.