Media-ing

omg, my head is exploded.

I don’t usually media (which I’m going to use to mean “consume media” here). The reason is that media-ing makes me feel like I’m unimportant, that there are all these other things in the world that have absolutely nothing to do with me, and that I don’t know a shred about. A more practical reason I could give (but not the gut reason) is that it feels impossible to get anything done afterwards.

The media ecosystem/food pyramid has many layers. The plankton at the bottom – the daily happenings, raw, unexplained – I don’t read that stuff. Obviously there are many reporters, and they’re doing a super-important job – but if I read about a shooting here, a economic crisis there – how will that do anything besides instill anything in me except hopelessness? Let me be honest – I’d want to media to be more knowledgeable about the world, and reading things that seem to have happened before and will happen again, and forgetting them ten minutes later, hardly qualifies.

So instead, what do I do? Get my information filtered. Go to the blogs at the top (that feed on sources below them that feed on sources below them… all the way down to those plankton-reporters oh so far away) – those that synthesize recent histories, make sweeping statements about the state of the world, leave me feeling that I understand some kind of Big Picture, curate a lot of hyperlinks so I can click and keep reading at my leisure. One can make a career as information gatherer. Be curious, ask questions, do research, and blog about them, explaining things previously held jealously by experts to the general public. Hyper-hyperlink your posts.

Wondershot

A: You see, our greatest problem is the demotivation of our scientists. That’s why we give each of them this hypodermic needle, with unlimited refills. We refer to the black hole that can open up inside anyone, at any time, especially in those whose lives have been dedicated to one pursuit, wherein they question whether what you’re doing is meaningful, and consider whether despite all the work that they’ve done to get up to this point, they wouldn’t be better off jumping onto another ship? You see, if left untreated, wonder-deficiency can lead to de-motivation of colleagues, gluttony, sloth, pointless clicking of advertisements, pacing, slouched posture, burning/shredding of one’s work, absence from work, love affairs and elopements, screaming, and suicide.

After the onset, it only takes a second – a quick jab to the stomach – before the feeling is all but forgotten. It can be used anywhere. The action will hardly be noticed. And they will again feel that childish wonderment in gazing at the stars, or the swirl of a snail’s shell.