Information Diet: High Agency vs Low Agency
Every minute, 500 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube.
George Mack
Information Diet: High Agency vs Low Agency
Every minute, 500 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube.
Every day, 500 million tweets are uploaded to Twitter.
Every year, 67 million people die.
Despite this, if you don't have an up-to-date opinion on trending events - you are labeled ignorant.
"Ignorance is bliss" is a loaded sarcastic putdown in 2023.
When you live in a society using "bliss" as a shaming mechanism, it's a sign you're in an upside-down world.
Reality: 24 hours each day isn't enough to consume 0.0001% of the world's events.
One fun hack:
When people mock you for not having an opinion on the new current thing: Start asking them about the current situation in Djibouti or Eswatini.
It will reveal they aren't up to date on the current situation in those countries - but that they also didn't know those countries existed. Peak ignorance.
This shows they don't actually care about ignorance -- it was just a proxy for shame and control.
Irony: The people shaming others for being ignorant are often the most ignorant because they are ignorant of their own ignorance.
The bad news is that it's impossible not to be ignorant in the age of information abundance. The good news is that there are different settings available in the ignorance video game: Low agency vs High agency information diets.
1. Low Agency Information Diets
• Low agency information diets are guided bottom-up by societal shame and FOMO.
• 0 information borders. Downloads the loudest voice on the news or For You algorithms.
• Low agency information diets avoid any feedback loops that observe the information inputs coming in and the outputs they produce. It's an infinite abyss that never ends.
• Admitting "I don't know" is the ultimate sin. You must have an opinion.
• Low agency information diets appear selfless, but in the pursuit of trying to keep on top of everything, it keeps on top of nothing.
2. High Agency Information Diets
• High agency information diets are guided top-down by intentional design and goals.
• It has specific information borders because attention is the scarcest asset in the age of information abundance.
• High agency information diets proactively seek sources with a proven track record. It has firewalls against passive consumption of the world's worst events or social media drama.
• Feedback loops are used to monitor the reliability and impact of the information diet. It ruthlessly mutes low signal sources.
• Admitting "I don't know" is a virtue.
High agency information diets appear selfish, but in the pursuit of directed focus, they can actually have an impact on a cause.
Choose your character:
We are all in the ignorance gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
Information Diet: High Agency vs Low Agency
Every minute, 500 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube.
Every day, 500 million tweets are uploaded to Twitter.
Every year, 67 million people die.
Despite this, if you don't have an up-to-date opinion on trending events - you are labeled ignorant.
"Ignorance is bliss" is a loaded sarcastic putdown in 2023.
When you live in a society using "bliss" as a shaming mechanism, it's a sign you're in an upside-down world.
Reality: 24 hours each day isn't enough to consume 0.0001% of the world's events.
One fun hack:
When people mock you for not having an opinion on the new current thing: Start asking them about the current situation in Djibouti or Eswatini.
It will reveal they aren't up to date on the current situation in those countries - but that they also didn't know those countries existed. Peak ignorance.
This shows they don't actually care about ignorance -- it was just a proxy for shame and control.
Irony: The people shaming others for being ignorant are often the most ignorant because they are ignorant of their own ignorance.
The bad news is that it's impossible not to be ignorant in the age of information abundance. The good news is that there are different settings available in the ignorance video game: Low agency vs High agency information diets.
1. Low Agency Information Diets
• Low agency information diets are guided bottom-up by societal shame and FOMO.
• 0 information borders. Downloads the loudest voice on the news or For You algorithms.
• Low agency information diets avoid any feedback loops that observe the information inputs coming in and the outputs they produce. It's an infinite abyss that never ends.
• Admitting "I don't know" is the ultimate sin. You must have an opinion.
• Low agency information diets appear selfless, but in the pursuit of trying to keep on top of everything, it keeps on top of nothing.
2. High Agency Information Diets
• High agency information diets are guided top-down by intentional design and goals.
• It has specific information borders because attention is the scarcest asset in the age of information abundance.
• High agency information diets proactively seek sources with a proven track record. It has firewalls against passive consumption of the world's worst events or social media drama.
• Feedback loops are used to monitor the reliability and impact of the information diet. It ruthlessly mutes low signal sources.
• Admitting "I don't know" is a virtue.
High agency information diets appear selfish, but in the pursuit of directed focus, they can actually have an impact on a cause.
Choose your character:
We are all in the ignorance gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.