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Information fatigue syndrome

2021-08-23T09:31:58.968Z


Citizens are more exposed to misinformation and are much more vulnerable to fake news and conspiracy theories.


Antoni Gutiérrez-Rubí

08/22/2021 5:17 PM

  • Clarín.com

  • Opinion

Updated 08/22/2021 5:17 PM

In 1996, clinical psychologist David Lewis coined a concept that, 25 years later, is not only not obsolete, but is more prevalent than ever: information fatigue syndrome (IFS).

Lewis observed, among his patients, a slight increase in anxiety, an attention deficit and a drop in analytical ability.

A diagnosis that could perfectly be of these times and with which many of us could feel identified.

It happens that in just one minute almost 200 million emails are sent, 695,000 stories are shared on Instagram and 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube.

And these are just a few facts ... There is a huge oversupply.

The amount of information that circulates on the internet increases exponentially, year by year, minute by minute, but the time available is and will always be the same.

This unsolvable paradox turns attention into the rare good par excellence and into what brands, media, institutions and politicians compete for, as Tim Wu well observes in his book Attention merchants.

We live in a screened world, which constantly interrupts us, occupies our lives and forces us to receive innumerable information that hardly gives us time to reflect, to digest. Faced with so much information, from so many screens and at any time, our brain cannot understand everything, so most of the information it receives is for immediate, superficial consumption. "The excess of information atrophies thought, the ability to distinguish the essential from the non-essential," pointed out a few years ago the South Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han.

In this context of information saturation (infoxication), citizens are more exposed to misinformation and are much more vulnerable to hoaxes, false news and conspiracy theories.

Acceleration hampers the reflection process - which has other times - and increases the cost of verifications and second reads.

The excess of information also contributes to the phenomenon of information bubbles, which appear as comfortable and safe havens.

The temptation of the known.

How to communicate in this context?

How to be remembered in this mass of information?

The word to remember, which comes from the Latin to remember, formed by re (again) and cordis (heart), means to go back through the heart.

Our memory does not guarantee recall if there are no emotions involved.

We stay with what we feel, with what generated some kind of emotion, be it positive or negative.

A fertile territory for exaltation and provocation.

Today, communicating is not spreading or informing.

Communicating is managing emotions.

Therein lies the challenge and the opportunities so that our message is not merely ephemeral content.

Copyright La Vanguardia, 2021.

Source: clarin

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