Overload

 "Is the Anger Gone," by Matt Bai
"Time, the Enemy," by Arthur Brisbane

Both in the Week In Review, The New York Times,  Sunday, January 16, 2011

Both articles echo a common thread: technology and the speed of information in our society is problematic. Bai states, "that the speed and fractiousness of our modern society make it all but impossible now for any one moment to transform the national debate."

Brisbane's article attributes Jim Roberts, the assistant managing editor at the Times, with the phrase, "1440/7"-1,440 minutes every day , seven days a week, each one of those minutes demanding news for delivery to a networked world."

This makes me think of what Tom Brokaw said some time ago, that getting information today is like getting a drink from a fire hydrant to quench your thirst: you drown trying.

I am concerned by the national debate of the events in Arizona, but I think people need time to reflect and think rather than be overloaded with information that clouds our thinking and our ability to "feel" anything about this tragedy. Our brains are screaming overload as we are forced to move on to the next  story without a choice.

©Peter Tobia
January 16, 2011