Dreaming of Information Addiction

November 23, 2009 at 1:24 am · Filed under Geek Culture & Tech, Roba

I’m browsing the web.

Obviously.

I’m ALWAYS browsing the web, even when I’m sinking knee-deep in design, or sitting at a relative’s place faking polite interest (sometimes on my phone, other times in my head).

I’m constantly reading online, feeling sorry for myself because I can’t read faster, or remember more of what I read. I skim and scan, often mindlessly, just to close the current tab and go to the next.

I bookmark sites, clip away phrases, and crave my childhood ability to memorize great chapters, great books, great sentences. I still remember the books I memorized when I was 10. I don’t remember the sentence I tried to get myself to memorize last night.

The digital scatterbrain. That is I.

I know everything. Just give me a second to google it. I know nothing. I do know it’s somewhere online.

It’s 12:12, and I’m facing my daily challenge of shutting down. Not before I share this link with you though, which is why I decided to write this post in the first place.

It’s called “Overhearing the Internet“, and it was written in 1993. I was eight years old, a year shy of discovering my addiction to MS Encarta, and four years shy of logging on.

An excerpt:

“Thus the answer to Big Question #4–Will the Net alter the very metaphysics of human existence?–is: not really. The attraction of cyberspace isn’t so much that it radically transforms human interaction as that it leaves the feeling of interaction intact.”

Fifteen years on, the answer to Big Question #4 is a FAIL.

As a bonus, the link also has a much more FAILish article about the digital smiley.




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  • Chris

    The world does feel smaller these days, I just wrote a comment (pending) to Kinzi this afternoon about Robert Wright’s good friend Andrew Sullivan. Thanks for the link (not bad for 1993). I read his latest book “The Evolution of God” this summer and visit bloggingheads tv often. And yes, a big FAIL for Neal Stephenson on the classic Roba :) !!

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  • http://shaelaiza.blogspot.com Shahirah Elaiza

    It’s like you took the words right of my mouth.. I feel the same way about not remembering details and facts I used to be able to re-call with so much more ease in my teens. I’m only 22 but I find it hard to remember to-do lists without my cellphone or the digital post-its on my desktop. IT has revolutionised the way we store data, I just didn’t think it would kind of take over my memory’s capabilities!

    When it comes to communication, I agree that the Internet does maintain human social interaction but it doesn’t just stop there. With all these new and different avenues and ways of self-expression popping out every now and then, the way we interact with one another has not only been extended to cyberspace… but the meaning of communication has also expanded. I think people are a lot more open these days and they’re more keen to share personal information about themselves. I mean, here we are blogging about our lives.

    Just my 2 cents, I had to write an essay about how the Internet has transformed cities not too long ago so some of the stuff is still fresh in my mind, heyyy.. whaddaya know, I can rely on my brain once in a while =)

  • http://meshx86.wordpress.com Mesh

    Then be aware; نظرية الاستعمال والاهمال
    The more you don’t depend on your memory, the quicker you’ll loose it.
    The more Random the Info we Gain, the harder to organize in mind and thus to access, the least accessed information will be ignored (or compressed and dumped some where in the mind lol), specially when they all look alike (fonts) considering that the eye is the human organ with highest information gain, when everything seems alike its harder to memorize..

    don’t you recall a word written by you (or a draw) in some notebook you written along time ago, specially if the pen starts to loose ink, or your hand slipped while writing/drawing ?

    Those are unique images, fonts are not.

  • http://meshx86.wordpress.com Mesh
  • http://andfaraway.net Roba

    Chris, do you recommen that book? The title is interesting. But you’re write, it’s a great article, even for 2010. It made me smile.

    Shahirah, I know, it’s aweful :( Digital to-do lists ae taking over are brain lobes! It’s also really cool :)
    But I like your point about communication, I definitely agree with you. it just brings everyone closer together.

    Mesh, hehe, I always imagined I’d one day end up with nothing but head and fingers :) I still often doodle by the way, but don’t you dare say that fonts are not unique :P you have no idea what type designers go through to give you these fonts man! :) 7aram 3aleik.

    And haha, ana beddi!

  • Chris

    I would, but check out his wikipedia page first, they got links to his books and articles with plenty of excerpts and videos.

  • http://meshx86.wordpress.com Mesh

    ok “e7em” then it is not as unique as a hand writing :P
    lets say remarkable ? i only see handwriting on signatures these days :S

    even sticky notes has a widget :S

  • http://andfaraway.net Roba

    Chris, thanks man :) Always appreciate a good book tip!

    Mesh, hehe,tayeb itsbetter. At least now understanding is more universal :P I have a font with my handwriting btw, I will send it to you.