Whether you live in the country or in the middle of a bustling city, there are innumerable distractions and eye-catching stimuli – more so than any other time in history. This has much less to do with our taste (or brainpower, for that matter) and more to do with the technological advancements that allow it to happen.
Remember – the radio, telephone, television, computer, and Internet are all very new inventions, particularly when you consider the rapid degrees of change they’ve each seen in the last 15 years even – telephones going from immobile to the ubiquitous handheld accessories we know today; the Internet going from an esoteric, sparsely used communication technology to a high-speed network of nearly every human on Earth. The radio, from the sole source of news and entertainment to families in-home to the omnipresent background noise in the cars we drive, doctors’ offices, shopping malls, and even outdoor events. Television, which sported only single-digit channels in my early childhood, now well into the triple digits.
We have a number of interesting pioneers in this era of noise that I imagine did not exist heretofore: those that absolutely must have noise in their lives or else suffer from distinct feeling of discomfort, even paranoia and anxiety. Silence, for these people, is far more grading and piercing than any cacophony. Often it’s music that must be a background hum every waking (and even sleeping) hour of the day. Other times it’s the television, which remains on perpetually like a lamp or ceiling fan. You could look at this as the need for company: hearing voices – even if they don’t represent present people – are comforting to people.
I feel that it is something else, however. It is an inhibitor to introspection. This unending noise at every turn keeps people from thinking. While many people believe themselves to be deep thinkers and you hear people say that in order to solve a problem they need only “time to think,” there is a concerted effort to refrain from thinking, and the noise of contemporary life allows for that.
This doesn’t mean that noise makes people dumb, inhibits intelligence, or clouds people’s unhappiness. It simply is, and it’s your responsibility to see how it’s affecting your life – positively and negatively – and alter your exposure to it accordingly.
One reason you may want to change your noise is to stymie what the wrong kind of noise is feeding you. It is inevitable in this time to feel confused about your sources of information. The wrong path to take is one in which you cling steadfast to one source and simultaneously decry the rest (which may well be what that one source is consistently telling you to do). While there certainly are many sources so wrought with ulterior motives that they cannot be trusted to supply you with any knowledge worth having, there is not one source that should be exonerated above all others, either. As with so many things that you will learn, the ideal path is one of sampling. Take snippets from everything you see and hear and find the truth or beauty or entertainment in an assembly of these many pieces.
I will say more than once that a great step toward advancing your after-market education is minimizing the amount of time you spend in front of the television, engrossed in movies, or even listening to music. You’ve heard the virtues of taking all things in moderation, well this is not so much a boring, conservative view of life as it is productive. Anything in excess numbs you to other input – that goes for television, work, crack, or skydiving. It’s just human nature to focus only on a minimal amount of things at one time. If your focus is solely on escapism or entertainment, you are setting yourself up for failure.
After-Market Education Rule #1
Cut down the noise, and vary your input.
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