Over-Communication?

Scott and I were talking the other day about the possibility that we as a culture may be over-communicating. The expression TMI (too much information) has been around for a while, but that's only part of it. [I must confess, posting a blog about linoleum -- that's symptomatic as well. Who cares what I think of linoleum? I hardly care myself!]

So how did we get to this place as a society where we dial home to ask which brand name of canned vegetables to buy? What would happen if we bought the wrong brand, or even the wrong type of vegetable, or if we forgot to buy vegetables altogether? And how did previous generations survive without being able place calls from the grocery aisle or the stoplight or the public restroom? It boggles the mind how interdependent we have made ourselves as people.

I remember an uncle of mine back in the 70s who, in an act of daring independence, let his telephone ring. It was shocking to me then, even more shocking now. He simply didn't answer the phone if he didn't feel like answering it. Caller ID and voice mail had not been invented yet to satisfy his curiosity about who had called. And it wasn't like he was doing something important -- just sitting in his recliner with the phone ringing in the kitchen. Ah, let it ring! He was content.

A few years ago, two television stations in our area switched national affiliation from CBS to NBC and vice versa. This event was promo-ed months in advance with television ads featuring a 1-800 number to dial if viewers needed further assistance. Scott and I found this hilarious! Even today when we are momentarily confused about which station something is on we turn to each other and ask, 'What's that 800 number again?'

A more recent phenomenon is the switch from analog to digital television and the number of corresponding PSAs they've made about it. If one day in February you turn your television on and it doesn't work, the world will not come to an end. You may decide to investigate why it doesn't work and if you do you'll find out that you need a digital receiver. On the other hand, you may give up on television altogether and that wouldn't be such a terrible thing either.

Blogs themselves are a growing part of the problem. Does anyone really need to know half of the information presented online? Of course not. People survived for thousands of years without knowing much about anything that happened outside their own four walls.

We are being barraged with superfluous information and unsolicitied opinions on everything from how to prepare a succulent turkey to how not to dress to how to be happy...on and on and on. It may come to the point where in order to remain human beings and not become automatons we will have to turn off all electronic devices (the cell phones, the computers, the radios and TVs, DVRs, CDs -- the whole alphabet) and just BREATHE.