Information & Media Consumption

How do you consume your information? Your email inbox? Your set of bookmarks and favorites? A stream of RSS feeds? Social media? Television? Forums? Radio? Direct messages? or maybe letters? Is the information audio, video or text based? Is it digital or physical?

There are a plethora of mediums and ways to consume information. From channel surfing on your cable box to your streaming subscriptions. From your search engine to your email inbox. Is your information system finely tuned?

Well if you are anything like I have been, whether its learning or entertainment, you probably haven't had the best approach to information consumption.

I have spent countless hours trying to find the best system structure for my digital life and in turn my entire life. Every layer, level, or tier of your system must work perfectly with modes and operations of the systems above and below it. Think of it as the philosophical equivalent of an API (Application Programming Interface). You need to form in your own head based on your own circumstance and experience a Thought Programming Interface (TPI).

Your TPI should be very well thought out and much like a computer you should not just take ideas and code from anyone haphazardly and incorporate them into your main structure. Consider your own opinions, views, experiences and of course consider your knowledge, skills and limitations.

Not every way of thinking works for everyone, just like not every religion or political party works for everyone. This is just the way people are and that is ok.

On a meta level the tools which equip people to create their own TPI through experience and learning are universal. Anyone can apply concepts and ideas to their own way of thinking. But again be careful with thoughts, they do in some ways have a life of their own.

For me I have always been a technology addict. I used to love getting new gadgets, video game consoles, toys, etc. when I was growing up. Part of it was ego and part of it was curiosity. As I've grown older I need the newest (and most expensive) thing less and less. I upgrade as infrequently as possible while still trying to stay informed and on top of the ever changing digital landscape. I find that the information is what's important, and important information isn't always "cutting edge".

I find myself looking backwards into books and teachings from long ago. I find concepts that are not new but that could definitely help people navigate this seemingly inevitable digital world. We grow more attached and dependent on our devices and the systems that link them together. The technology seems to replace the culture, the communication and the spirit of most people. I find more and more that people would rather chat through text than to listen or talk on a phone call. Less and less people even interact in person and the more they can get away with it the more they indulge in the convenience of the technology.

Anyways there are few things I'm keeping note of as I move towards my goals of digital minimalism and return to a focus on deep work and development. I have spent too much time just trying to force the various circumstances and systems together in my life. I am wanting to spend more time reflecting on what aspects of my life are important and which aspects deserve my time. Because as I grow older, which we all inevitably do, I realize that the time, the experiences and the people are what is important. None of this stuff, this tech or these distractions. None of this social media, digital escapism, or hours and hours of video games.

So my TPI starts with a few foundational concepts and attributes:

Minimalism - removing the extraneous to make way for the truly extraordinary

Accessibility - delivering ideas that anyone can understand or use

Portability - applying ideas in a creative and cross-conceptual fashion

Simplicity - operational ease and friction mitigation

With these words and labels bouncing around my head I have spent the last several years trying to whittle away at the excess in my life, both digitally and physically. It is a significant challenge to say the least. I am not sure which I would say is more difficult. Perhaps the digital since unlike physical mess the digital can be easily forgotten about.

I have played with hundreds of different tools, systems, software and productivity schemes. And at the end of the day, most of them just made me feel busy and not necessarily effective.

And that's the point isn't it? to be effective? I mean, if we can operate in a more efficient way (at least as far as tech is concerned) then we can have the time to develop things that are by nature "inefficient" things like self reflection, meditation, prayer, whatever. Most people are simply too busy to be bothered with thinking about their own thinking and way of doing things. They typically grow into a circumstance and through that experience into a way of thinking. Ultimately, over a lifetime of poor programming people lose their potential.

To me this is probably the biggest injustice of our existence. The fact that we are so capable yet so bound by ideology and prisons of thought.

I'll keep working away at this information game and maybe the effort will produce something of value.

So until next time ...