ultra-processed information

After returning from vacation, I fell ill with tonsillitis, which took me over a week to recover from. During that time, I was like a zombie at home; I didn’t think, didn’t interact, I just existed while waiting for my immune system to win the internal battle.

My world came to a standstill; there were no responsibilities beyond not fading away, and I started doing something I never do: nothing. I spent five days in absolute nothingness, allowing myself to be bored, and that was okay. My only goal at the end of the day was to eat enough.

When it was all over, I realized, as if splashed with a bucket of cold water, that I hadn’t wasted time; I had allowed myself to pause, and that break helped me evaluate what is truly important in my day.

We are usually bombarded with so much information, all neatly processed so we only have to consume it; memes that mockingly summarize news, highlights that are more sensationalist than the last. In the end, that doesn’t serve us at all, as someone else has thought for us to shove that into our heads.

That’s why they say AI is making us dumber; we don’t have to think, we don’t form our own opinions. We just raise our hands, ask a question, and get the briefest and most satisfying answer.

I don’t want that. I want to read a book, learn a language, and do my job every day with the same passion as before. I want to watch a movie without getting bored and sit at the table without my phone on it.