The Information Diet

The Information Diet

            In this digital age of interconnected-ness, of instant likes, news in 140 characters, and specific target-driven advertisements we might all agree that we live in the age of information overload. But would we go as far to agree that we are the cause of our own information obesity? That’s what Clay Johnson lays out for us in his book ‘The Information Diet, A Case for Conscious Consumption’. He compares informational obesity to food obesity – as food has gotten cheaper to produce, we as a society have become less discerning in our food choices and therefore become obese. Likewise information has become cheaper to produce, as he calls it ‘churnalism’ and therefore we have become less discerning in what information we consume. If pointed advertising is giving us the ‘sweets’ we want or desire or agree with, then why take the time in our busy schedules to cross the street to grab a salad? Johnson covers real physical consequences of our lazy information diets, apnea, poor sense of time, attention fatigue, distorted sense of reality, loss of social breadth, and brand loyalty. Much like going on a food diet He suggest we be conscious of our consumption of information. Johnson promotes data literacy, attention fitness, a healthy sense of humor, canceling your cable or satellite tv subscriptions and getting video entertainment from online choices like Youtube, Hulu and Netflix, consuming locally – pay attention to what’s happening in your neighborhood, city and state, lower your exposure to advertisements, diversify where you’re getting your information from – don’t just go to the same places over and over, balance how much of what you consume, and finally fine tune your information consuming adjustment and seek support from friends and family to combat the symptoms of information obesity. Johnson doesn’t blame the advertisers, news corporations or big businesses on our obesity, they’re just giving us what we want, but on how we as a society consume.  

            There was a time when sports were my gluttonous guilty pleasure. I could spend all Saturday consuming nothing but college football, most of the day Sunday on pro-football. Basketball, baseball, hockey, women’s soccer, and heck I found myself watching two guys running around crazy playing ping-pong on TV. Why? Because it was there, it was on television. I don’t consume sports like I used to, growing family responsibilities curtailed my consuming but also a realization that I was just wasting time away and to what gain?

             Reading this book made me give even more thought to my information diet. I agree with the analogy he uses, we should view it as an information diet and be conscious of what we are consuming and the effects it has on our mental and physical health. In thinking about what I’ve learned from this book and how it might impact my teaching practice I think first of all what a great lesson this is for all of us to learn. How can I teach my students to be considerate of the information they consume as well as myself? Also it will give me pause as to what information I am going to feed my students. Is this information absolutely critical to my overall learning goal or is it just filler?

            Much like politicians who go after the sugary drink makers and try to limit their effect on consumers waistlines, there may be those who disagree with Johnson’s book and blame those who create and produce the information we consume for our poor information diets, but I believe He makes some very valid points to help us become better consumers of information and in the process we’ll become healthier for it.