We evolved to seek out sugar because it was a scarce source of energy. But when we learned how to produce it on an industrial scale, suddenly our love for sweet things went from an asset to a liability. The same is now true of data. In an age of information overabundance, our curiosity, which once focused us, now distracts us. And it’s caused an epidemic of intellectual obesity that’s clogging up our minds.
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“Our minds are hurt more often by overeating than by hunger.” —Petrarch
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Since low-quality information is just as effective at satisfying our information-cravings as high-quality information, the most efficient way to get attention in the digital age is by mass-producing low-quality "junk info"— a kind of fast food for thought. Like fast food, junk info is cheap to produce and satisfying to consume, but high in additives and low in nutrition. It's also potentially addictive and, if consumed excessively, highly dangerous.
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Common types of junk info include gossip, trivia, clickbait, hackery, marketing, churnalism, and babble. But in fact, any information that you can't use is junk info. A typical example on social media would be a photo of a freshly cooked burger, captioned with "Look what I just made!" but posted without a recipe so you can't even recreate it. Such an image might make you briefly salivate, and possibly spur you to make a burger of your own, but it provides no discernible value to your life.
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But despite being "empty calories," junk info still tastes delicious. Since your dopamine pathways can't distinguish between useful and useless info, consuming junk info gives you the satisfaction of feeling like you're learning—it offers you the illusion of getting smarter—even though all you're really doing is shoving popcorn into your skull.
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The most straightforward way to improve your information diet is to develop a habit for meta-awareness; to pay attention to what you're paying attention to. When you find yourself reaching unprompted for your phone, or hovering over the Twitter icon, invoke the "10-10-10 rule:" ask yourself, if I consume this info, how will I feel about it in 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years?
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Writing requires you to filter out bad information because you have a duty to your readers to not be full of shit. Writing also forces you to periodically shut out information altogether so you can be alone with your thoughts. This regular confrontation with yourself helps you keep your bearings in a world constantly trying to lure you away from your brain.
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