Internet Overload

Ok, so you want to do some research on a subject, so you hit the Internet.
You try the general search and hit the 352 billion, 575 million, 653 thousand, 597 hundred and 2 results to your search. You think to yourself, "How could there be that many articles, opinions, websites, etc. on this?"

So you try and refine your search. You click on the few top suggestions the search engine throws up at you. You end up maybe finding a site or two that gives you enough info to wet your appetite and then it begins. The endless line of click throughs. You click here to read this article or newsbyte. Then that page has about 50 places to click on for more info or websites and so on and so on.

So you click on some and end up in places you have no idea how you got there. Your head is reeling from the information overload and you actually feel more stupid than when you began. You wish you had never started, but now you can't stop. You have now officially entered the "I am so overwhelmed" state of mind.

Ah, the saying, "Ignorance is bliss" is coming to mind. It's an old saying, one that has been around long before the invention of the Internet and computers. Who knew it would have such a strong impact in today's world? I mean, how much information do we really need? Who would have thought that you can actually get too much information on a subject? Would you have ever thought you would have wished for a time before computers?

Yet you find yourself daydreaming about what it must have been like for your parents and grandparents. Raising kids without the Internet?? Are you kidding? How ever did they do it?

What if you had a baby? What if the baby had a fever, a runny nose, began crawling, eating solids, got a diaper rash, went to school, became a teenager, graduated college, left home, had a family? I mean how did they get through life themselves and raise children to be productive members of society without the vast Internet to tell them what to do? Let me tell you, they did so pretty easily. How? They relied on their own intelligence, most had a family support network and society wasn't as judgmental as it is today.

Now don't get me wrong, I love the Internet. Well, it's more of a love/hate relationship. I do remember that we got along just fine without it before, but now that it's woven itself into our lives we can't live without it.
Have you ever met someone who doesn't use the Internet, does not own a computer or even know how to use one? I have. They are rare, definitely a dying breed. They tend to be older of course and when asked about if they saw a particular thing on the Web or maybe offer that solution to a problem they are having can be found on a particular website they scoff and say things like, "I never get on there. I don't even have a computer." You gasp as if they told you they use an outhouse in their backyard.

How do they survive? You ask yourself. Well, quite nicely. If you notice this person, is doing quite well. They seem to not be in personal debt. They have enough money to do most of what they want. They have nice, but not extravagant homes and don't lead excessive materialistic lives. They don't have the red eyes from staring at a computer all day. They tend to be in better health than most and are generally, dare I say it? Happy?!

You walk away from them just mystified. You secretly long to be like them. They are totally unaware of a whole world out there and the kicker is they don't care! You want to be like that, but you know you can't. It's too late for you.

But how do we use it and keep our sanity? How do we do research to educate ourselves without turning our brains to mush? The answer is: I don't know.
Maybe I can Google it and let you know. But then again I don't have time to send you all the links on it and you probably don't have time to click on them. Just try and wear ear plugs to keep your brains from leaking out. And take a picture of that happy, Internet unaware person and submit to the organization that publishes the endangered species list. It is doubtful your children will ever see such a person and they won't believe you if you tell them at one time you yourself was one.

Happy Computing!