Member Article

Info Pollution Lowers People’s Productivity

In our time, you can notice that many people are not very knowledgeable about the topic they are actively discussing. They imply that they know a lot about it, but during a conversation you feel only some superficial knowledge. These people often don’t understand the cause-and-effect relations in the big flows of information they receive.

Currently, we can witness an informational revolution; information has stopped being inaccessible, valuable and fundamental. Earlier, to get a great book, you needed to find it, wait in a big line, or get it through far friends’ friends. There were no seminars or courses available for average people. Recipes were inherited from parents and kids listened to elderlies’ tips very carefully.

Now you can learn about the whole universe in just a couple of clicks, understand the rules of leading a business, get 100 recipes of cooking a steak, learn how to build a house, etc.

Informational pollution is an unstrained stream of information where the use of received data decreases in proportion to the quantity of it.

Where is the danger here?

The ability to grasp the information well, to understand it and to, most importantly, use it, has always been a valuable quality. Now something different is valued more - you need to be able to regulate and filter the flows of information; and the search of the right data becomes more important. Do you feel the difference?

Evernote, Pocket, bookmarks, clouds, etc. were created just because of this. Human brain now cannot digest all the information; it just remembers where to look for it. A brain doesn’t want to memorize cause-and-effect relations anymore; it is turning into a fast computer.

People now don’t want to analyze information, they simply get used to numerous informational streams that they see and hear, but don’t delve into. Here is the main danger - you get addicted to this kind of information: blogs, articles, videos, courses, pictures. You waste a lot of energy on all of that, but get nothing valuable from it.

Sources of info pollution

• Television

This is one of the biggest villains of our time. You get tons of unnecessary information from it: commercials, unsolicited news, TV-shows, etc. Or often you just waste time switching from one channel to another.

• Internet

Here is another generator of info pollution. People think that they control the situation on the Internet and visit only those sites and pages that they need. However, have you ever noticed that while looking for the answer to your question, you’ve looked through ten sites, read several fake reviews, saw a couple of ads and while doing all of it, you’ve also checked your email and social accounts once or twice? Do you believe that your brain has filtered the necessary information well? Probably not.

• Radio

Radio is also a strong source of info pollution. Discussing unimportant topics, advertising, music. All of that can be completely useless.

• Newspapers

Previously newspapers were nearly the only source of information and they did contain less junk. Now it is scary to even open one. Even a good magazine such as National Geographic contains around 30% of fancy ads.

• Advertising

Well, it’s everywhere. Banners, billboards, pamphlets, creeping line, etc. are everywhere. It is very difficult to fight it; you cannot but see and hear it.

• Informational background

It includes discussions, books, smartphones, instructions, etc.

How to fight informational pollution

The main tip here is to realize that you cannot know everything. Our brain is not a computer. You need to reduce the spectre of information that flows in.

• Limit Internet use

Online addiction is a widespread thing. You cannot say no to the Internet at all, but you can limit your time there. Clean your bookmarks from unnecessary websites that take a lot of your time; leave only the essential ones. You need to be harsh here: delete and forget. And stop checking your social accounts every five minutes, set specific time for it. An average person spends around 118 minutes on social networks every day. That’s way too much.

• Say no to television

You won’t lose anything if you cut television out of your life completely. You will still get all the important information. It is even more important to cut television out of kids’ life.

• Make silence days

It is good to take some rest from constant information. Go out of the city, visit a museum, spend time on your hobby, etc. I personally take my best fishing cart and go to the lake outside the city for the whole day. It is very relaxing and refreshing for your brain.

• Read good books

It is a very simple tip, but many people don’t do it, actually. Try to read those good books in silence when no one disturbs you. Thus, your memory, creative flows and analyzing skills will work the best. Don’t read too much and too fast though, or you’ll get the reverse results.

• Don’t produce info pollution yourself

The most important thing is not to produce information pollution yourself. Likes, comments, links, pictures, videos - you also pollute people’s brains. Before posting something, think whether people need to see or read it.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sidney Pickerson .