We: The Content (Data) Eaters

I literally had to pause the ongoing video to put this thought into writing. Such was the intensity of flow.

Are we having access to too much data? That we don't even know how to let the information seep in, to let the mind absorb it.

How many of us have ever felt that even after using the internet for hours and hours, we haven't done really anything? In a flashback, it seems like our time has been wasted. 

Recently, I was scrolling down whilst streaming online. Suddenly, I felt the need to keep a pen and paper by my side so that I could note down what all content is in the pipeline that I would play after the present one ends. That's what we are directed towards. We don't enjoy the journey but are only oriented towards the end result. We don't focus on the thing at hand. We are just rushing mindlessly. 

Do you remember the answer to the last question that you had searched on google a few days back? I can spot the same searches being made more than once in my browser history (not literally). To think of it, it is the ease of access to data that we now hardly try to focus on what we are actually reading. At times, we don't even pay much attention to the search results. 'If needed, we'll find it online again' is the mindset.

Plus, we also have to run fact checks from time to time. We can't believe each and everything that we come across digitally. Authenticity test is a must.

The speeds of our internet plans are rapidly increasing whereas our evolution cycles are certainly not able to keep up with the bandwidths.

I don't know if it will be wrong to say that I can somewhat foresee bots, robots and AIs taking over us. These human-made digital beings are already making us their servants.

Edit: Double check the date stamp This was written even before ChatGPT started making rounds in news.

Call it lack of memory or what, but it has happened to me once or so when I replay suggested videos. Even though I know that I've already seen them earlier, but I don't remember at all what they were about. Hence, repeated viewing.

Another day, only after seeing it again in a news article was I reminded of the education policy that the government had introduced almost a year ago. The proposals of it, such as ending of the 12th board amongst other structural changes, came across as surprising as the first time; just that this time it had a minuscule element of deja vu. I knew I had read it earlier, but still was unable to recall it completely.

Similarly, the minimisation feature in smartphones was brought in for multitasking, but we got so busy multitasking that we forgot to enjoy the individualism of each task.

Let me explain: Most of the people refer to my music lover blog post thinking I'm still a music lover. What do I say to them now? There are times when I play a song on my phone whereas my mind is occupied with the search for more songs that have been released newly. So, I'm hardly able to pay any attention to the streaming song. In the end, I trash the song of being not-worthy-to-be-downloaded. 

Streaming online has the disadvantage that you don't remember the names of songs. You are just going with the recommended songs, flowing with the algorithm of the media-streaming app which has 'For you,' 'Similar tracks' or 'Autoplay' features.

Later on, when you want to play a song, you don't remember the name, so you have to rake your brains which are anyway becoming redundant.

On the other hand, in the good old days, (and I rarely call old days to be good, but only due to this specific thing I would say so), we used to keep ourselves busy with productive things.

Women used to clean weed from food ingredients in their spare time, weave off clothes, made dishes at home etc. whereas men used to sit as idle as they sit in today's time. *Wink* Kidding. 

Help me shortlist the works of men in those times? I can't remember any.

Nowadays, I feel scrolling on food trays for weeding out cumin seeds or rice has been replaced by scrolling the phone screens. Think of it, motion is the same, the intent is also more or less the same, say timepass, but the end result is more productive in the former.

Sometimes we don't even know why we are doing some things which are in trend. For instance, we keep on signing petitions, we use hashtags (mostly a meaningless group of words stringed together without spaces), we try to maintain the 'streaks', we are in this race to gain followers, likes & subscribes and what not. 

Alright, I admit subscriptions on YouTube are helping. (That's what Vloggers say). But what about other social media platforms. Especially when we know that we won't be able to reach the pedestal of highly followed and liked account that it starts paying us monetarily, instead of egoistically. This was one of the reasons that I delayed my presence on WhatsApp. After Facebook, I didn't want to be the part of the rat race again where you'd have to unnecessarily keep worrying about updating DPs and statuses.

Then, there are gaming apps having a spin wheel, which if spun would reward you with some points on a random basis. They encourage you to do this routine daily. I used to do it religiously and one day my mind bulb lighted. I uninstalled the game suddenly and my life became easier. 

As if I had gotten enlightened about the materiality of the world. 'What will you do with lacs and lacs of accumulated points?' my mind reasoned.

So, I hope better sense prevails upon all of us and we start gaining back the control of our days (and nights). Let's stop. Pause. Think. And ponder over where we are headed to and then act accordingly.

Here's adding another bit of content to the online traffic.
A piece of my heart feels guilty about having written this long a post by typing on the very same device (which eventually will be published through the very same platform) which I've been criticising for the past 1035 or more words.