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Be Critical of Everything you Read<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Most things that you read or see on the web today come from someone with an agenda. A common one is profit: everyone from your local grocery store to multinational corporations have found some way to generate money from the internet, whether its ad sales or convincing you to go to a store nearby. Knowing that whatever you’re reading is written by a human being, and one that likely has not only a point of view but also a motivation to write whatever you’re reading, I think it’s important to actively seek out information that contradicts things that you agree with and would choose to read for fun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Human beings have a fairly hard limit on how much information they can deal with well. That’s why, for example, we’re fairly poor at multitasking such as texting and driving. This is true for digital information as well: making up your mind about an event, or making a decision on things like purchases, all take time. Since screens are more or less ever-present in our lives today, it’s hard for most people to take dedicated time away from screens. Often, people find themselves “resting” from working on a screen by watching something else on the screen that they keep in their pocket instead of on a desk. This is, I think, a poor substitute for doing something that is completely offline and disconnected that might give you the mental room for reflection. In my main line of work, I’m a researcher. Specifically, I study how people use the internet, and how, when they misuse it, we get bad outcomes as a society. Of course, I am far from being a luddite (although, the real-life Luddites weren’t actually against all technology!): it would be pretty hypocritical of me … <\/p>\n
With that said, those relationships are not always clear, and many websites, especially those calling themselves sources of news, do not make their economic, political, or social agendas clear to readers. Instead, these sites present their information as the truth, and invite you to dig deeper in the articles linked at the bottom.
Especially if you agree with the perspective that a piece of information is offering you, I think it’s a good idea to ask yourself who might want you to agree with that point of view, and what they may gain from you either believing them or taking action based on what you’ve read. This is easy to do for things you disagree with, but is more important, in my view, to do so when you read something with which you agree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/manlife.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/sam-albury-oA7MMRxTVzo-unsplash-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nFind Contrary Sources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
This is important for two reasons. First is that, if, like me, you prefer to base your opinions and ideas on facts, we need to apply something like the scientific method to those facts before we make up our minds on an opinion or an analysis. That is to say, you have a logical and moral obligation to try to disconfirm whatever fact you’re using as the basis of your opinion.
Second, seeking out and reading contradicting sources can be some inoculation against getting more extreme in your views and perspectives over time. Being reminded that there are people who think differently from you, and that think that way for good reasons, is critical to being able to participate in normal social life. Otherwise, people might spend years only seeing information with which they agree, which, in my research, fairly clearly leads to people mistaking their viewpoints with being objectively true and needing to be enforced by increasingly troubling means.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLimit Your Screen Time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The acts that I describe above, such as being critical and seeking out views that contradict your own, also take some thinking to work through. Thus, I think it is vitally important for people to take time, daily, to stop interacting with screens as much as possible. Even before the pandemic, the Average American was spending nearly 12 hours a day looking at a screen of some kind. I suspect this has only gotten worse in the past two years. With about 12 hours a day at a screen, and 6 or so more sleeping: what time is there left for you to think and contemplate? In my estimation, not nearly enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/manlife.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/paul-pastourmatzis-d4ljEJRLcVo-unsplash-576x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nChoose an Analog Hobby<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Timing here might also be really important. Over the last few years, rates of insomnia have skyrocketed. I think stress and unease have a lot to do with this, but so do overstimulation and your body’s reaction to the blue light generated by phones, televisions, and computers. Thus, I recommend trying to disconnect from all screens for at least two hours before bed, to give both your mind and body some time to calm down and get some rest.
In the evenings these days, I have taken the time to journal in a physical notebook. For me, it is a way of forcing myself to sit down, slow down, and reflect. It has, anecdotally, decreased my stress a fair bit.
The internet can be a wonderful tool to learn things, and it can make spaces for people to get together into communities that they find deeply empowering. It can also be overwhelming, and lead to people becoming more divided over time. I think that, with a little conscious effort and some good digital habits, most people can make better use of the internet and feel more comfortable in their lives as a result. Being critical of what you read, and taking time to set your devices down can, I find, lead to people being a lot happier and a lot less likely to fall prey to poor quality information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"