I just realized that with the information overload we’ve been recently subjecting our brains to, selective and conscientious reading is now a must not just for those who write but for anyone who is a living and thinking animal.

I don’t need to inundate you with links or a litany of examples to prove the point that the world wide web is — to
be blunt about it — full of trash. Generally, that is. Of course there are bits and pieces of valuable information out here, if you know where to look.

But the sad reality is that, it’s easier said than done. There’s just too much information everywhere that it even finds you sooner than you’d search. Sometimes, you don’t even realize you’re looking for it, until it finds you. And most times, you aren’t even looking at all — or probably never would. But what can you do if this annoying information is relentlessly pulling on your sleeves? It’s not like you can just look away.

That said, it behooves us, more than ever to be selective of what we read.

Remember comics?

There used to be a time when reading printed comics was considered a pastime. Now however, it is considered a vocation.

Because, really, with so many ‘versions’ of the printed medium floating aimlessly in cyberspace, to go through the hassle of going to a bookstore, skim through a pile of comics, pay for it, and actually get around reading it seem like too much effort for the regular homo sapien of the 21st century.

And this phenomenon has affected us in many if not all aspects of our lives. Information is power — so they say. That’s probably why I spend an awful lot of time everyday reading — news, blogs, magazines, instruction manuals, etc. I feel as though missing a paragraph would mean reduced ‘power’.

The irony, as I’ve noticed, is that with all the truckloads of information being delivered to our senses every waking second of our lives, there appears to be an ever-increasing scarcity for reliable information.

Speed and reliability have become inversely proportional with each other — as though it’s inevitable to sacrifice one for the other.

The faster the information gets delivered to us, the lesser the chance that it is 100% reliable. Everyone seems to care more about ‘who gets to break the news first’ — any other consideration is thrown out the window — at least for the meantime.

No wonder it gets even more confusing when the ‘facts’ and significant details seem to change by the hour if not by the minute. ‘Something happens’ and everyone scampers for little info, churning half-baked articles begging for verification.

Suddenly, ‘small details’ don’t matter — although we know the ‘devil’ is in there somehow. Writers don’t take both sides of the story anymore or just scrape off content and risk plagiarizing or just rip off photos because ‘it’s easier to apologize than to ask permission’.

The end result is more trash in exchange for trash. And that’s not even the worse part yet. What’s worse is that with so many people claiming authority in ‘this and that’, it gets more and more difficult to filter out the real from the not.

Now, compound this problem with black propaganda and ‘news’ tainted with vested interests and there my friend is your recipe for guaranteeing at least another six years of a pitiful Philippines.

If it is true that we are what we read, I guess it’s about time we exert extra effort and refuse to be fed with run-of-the-mill articles masquerading as ‘news’ or relevant issues.

You are not a droid. You are a living and thinking being. Besides we aren’t called ‘homo sapiens’ for nothing. It’s about time we live up to that scientific name, don’t you think? Otherwise, I suggest we petition for a new name.

~~~
Note:
This post is my protest against all manufactured lies online meant to deceive Filipino voters this coming May elections. May God grant us the gift of discernment to see through these evil smokescreens.

However, this post also applies to the web and how we consume online and even offline info in general.