Information Underload

Just about three years ago, I wrote Information Overload.

I’m trying to decide if I feel the complete opposite or exactly the same. I don’t bother trying to keep up on everything any more – I’ve learned to accept that I can’t – though I do still consume a lot. I find that I get restless and bored quickly if I don’t have something to watch, something to read, or something to do. Like Against Me! said in Don’t Lose Touch:

Constant entertainment for our restless minds.

Constant stimulation for epic appetites.

That’s pretty much what I’ve come to expect. There is almost no time that I don’t start to feel a little antsy if I have nothing to do for more than a couple minutes. I need a book, or a magazine, or RSS feeds on my iPhone, or at least a new podcast. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing: riding the train, waiting on hold, waiting for a file to download, sitting in a conference call about something I’m not involved in, even walking home – I feel like I need constant input. There’s so much out there, so much entertainment and information, that I feel like I’m just wasting cycles if I’m not accepting some kind of input. Sometimes I’ll even be watching a show I really like on TV, and I’ll fire up Google Reader because it’s just not quite entertaining enough.

You know, now that I actually put all that into words, I have to imagine it would qualify as Internet Anxiety Disorder. But how can you not want to take it all in?