Too much information

My desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane.”

I forwarded this meme a few days ago on Facebook and in 12 hours, over 30 of my friends had “liked” my post.

I am not surprised.  We are overwhelmed by too much information, mostly bad news. We are bombarded with hysterical negativity on radio, print and online; hate- and fear-mongering by racists and terrorists, gossip and other unfounded allegations by haters and their trolls.  On radio, TV, Facebook, Twitter, text, in the newspapers, at the lunch table, over the phone, during class and family reunions, everyone seems to be on a soap box freely expressing his/her views. Which is par for the course in a democracy, but would it be too much to ask that the views be fair, informed, sober, constructive and civilized? Or even any one of the above?

Surely social media has a lot to do with the state of communication and information in the world today. With the barrage of stories and commentary coming in unfiltered, in real time, and people reacting instantly from the gut, without much introspection and discernment, the result is a babble that people pick up on without first bothering to make sense of it.

So we get stuck in the moment, consumed with anger, hate, disgust over something we feel strongly about but can barely articulate beyond insults and name-calling.  How long that moment lasts depends on how long we allow others to feed us with their anger, hate, disgust, without stopping to think things through ourselves.

Facebook and Twitter are great tools for information and communication. Advocacies have been pursued with much success through social media. Friendships have been made, old schoolmates reunited, and meals virtually shared online.  And during calamities, Facebook has been proven to be of great help locating the missing. That’s the upside.

The downside is, social media is also very effective in bullying, spreading false information and character assassination. It is also a convenient tool in the recruitment of terrorists, and the promotion of extremist views. Facebook and Twitter are the lazy thinkers’ go-to place to broadcast their toxic views and spew shallow analysis. It is also the trolls’ venue for dirty tricks and mind control.

But love it or hate it, the media — social and regular — are a necessary part of our lives.

After a month in California and Australia where I could shut out the noise of US and Aussie politics, I was not looking forward to the toxic brew of the media in the Philippines.  Even if I followed developments at home on Facebook, I could remove myself from political aggravation by focusing on the company I was with. The family stories, congenial meals, lusty singing and hearty laughter shared with my relatives abroad were heady and healing, both mentally and emotionally. Unfortunately, I had to go home and get back to work.

 The day I was leaving Los Angeles, the Paris bombings happened, jolting me back to the real world.  Now back in the country, I am hanging on to my sanity by skipping news channels,  trying (not too successfully) to avoid Facebook , and attempting to bury my head in the sand by spending an inordinate number of hours a day watching re-runs of Law & Order, Everybody Loves Raymond, Modern Family  and The Affair on cable.

I can only take so much of the incessant reporting about terrorist attacks and their continuing threats of bloody mayhem, of Syrian child refugees fleeing their homes in search of a safe haven from war and strife, and the sickening rhetoric of racists and fear-mongers denying them access to their communities. 

I am upset by the haters who refuse to acknowledge the good things government has done, insisting on seeing only its misses and errors. And I have no appetite for the stir-crazy politics in this ugly campaign season.  William Wordsworth wrote, “The world is too much with us.” I think I know how he must have felt, although by comparison, the 18th century was a much kinder, more innocent era.

As the electoral campaign heats up, the partisan rhetoric will rise and boil over into violence.  There are candidates who will not make it to election day, and their widows and orphans will take over their candidacies.  And after the elections are over and a new administration is installed, the losers will kick and scream that they were cheated until the people stop listening and just settle for whoever topped  the Comelec count.  But no sooner will the brickbats fly, the claws re-emerge and the knives are drawn because there is no real honeymoon in politics.  And social media, an effective truth-sayer, also makes it so easy to spread lies and negativity. 

I would have to be a bit insane to willingly immerse myself in such toxic dirt. For now, I choose sanity over the need to be well-informed.  Goodbye, negativity.  Hello, cable.