Chapter 1: The Noise of Information

In today's world, the clamor we face goes beyond just auditory distractions; the overwhelming influx of images and information—much of which is trivial—creates a more insidious form of mental noise. This incessant barrage has reached unprecedented levels.

Though this issue feels remarkably contemporary, it has its roots in the past. Over a century ago, the cantankerous German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer expressed his concerns about the growing tide of information and its accompanying mental chaos.

Mental noise has a dual impact: it disturbs our peace and obscures clarity. Just as excessive sound can drown out important signals, so too can the clutter of information lead us astray. Schopenhauer, well before the advent of emails, lamented over the distractions of a disorganized mental inbox.

In his essay “On Authorship,” he anticipated the overwhelming noise of social media, where genuine insights are often muffled by the din of the latest trends. He cautioned against the prevailing notion that new information is inherently superior, claiming, “No greater mistake can be made than to imagine that what has been written latest is always the more correct.”

We fall into this trap—now referred to as Schopenhauer’s Folly—each time we engage in mindless scrolling, akin to a lab rat pressing a lever for a reward. The nature of this reward remains uncertain, but that hardly matters. Much like Schopenhauer's eager audience, we conflate novelty with value.

As humans, we are not mere processors of information, just as we are not solely hunters and gatherers. Just as we require time to digest a meal, we must also pause to comprehend the information we consume.

I admit to being ensnared by Schopenhauer’s Folly myself. While drafting this text, I found myself repeatedly checking emails (nothing new), scrolling through Facebook (noting a friend's birthday), placing bids on eBay for a waxed canvas backpack, and ordering an excessive amount of coffee—all the while checking my email yet again (still nothing).

But you might argue that in times of social upheaval and global conflict, it's impossible to disconnect. I contend the opposite is true: you cannot afford not to take a step back. Merely monitoring events does not equate to effecting change. You’re not assisting anyone by succumbing to mental clutter.

Just as we need time to properly digest our meals, we require time to process the information we encounter. Undigested information can be more detrimental than an absence of data, and an overload of information can be more hazardous than a lack thereof.

This surplus of information creates a metaphorical fog, obscuring our understanding. Attempting to make sense of excessive data is akin to trying to engage in a meaningful conversation in a loud restaurant. While the Internet has brought this issue to the forefront, it is not the source of the problem. Each era has its own distractions.

In Schopenhauer's time, it was the encyclopedia. Developed in 18th-century France, these volumes offered solutions readily at hand. Schopenhauer argued that arriving at an answer through personal contemplation holds far greater value. He noted that too many people rushed to seek answers in books instead of nurturing their own thoughts, advising, “You should read only when your own thoughts dry up.”

In our current context, we should substitute “click” for “read,” highlighting our modern predicament. We confuse data with information, information with knowledge, and knowledge with wisdom. Schopenhauer observed this tendency, noting how people scrambled for information, misinterpreting it as genuine insight. He remarked, “It does not occur to them that information is merely a means toward insight and possesses little or no value in itself.”

I would argue that this excess of data—essentially noise—holds negative value and impedes our potential for insight. Bombarded by external voices, we often struggle to hear our own thoughts.

The first video provides an intriguing look at how a computer predicted the end of civilization in 1973, shedding light on the relevance of historical insights into our current information overload.

The second video discusses the predictions made about the end of the world by a computer, focusing on what is often left unsaid in these discussions.