Rewilding our Information Intake

"You’re the same way; you contain your own etcetera Whitmanian multitudes, your pockets of woolly-eyed obsession. We all do." ~ Clive Thompson

Clive Thompson, writing in Medium, provides two good post about "rewilding your attention." The first, from August, found here and the second, more recent one, with tips on how to achieve this "rewilding" available here.

There is something about this idea of "rewilding" that I really like. In our modern digital age I think that it is all too easy to fall into traps of stagnancy and monotony. Our algorithmic world makes it very easy for our attention to be crowded by what is trending and "viral" at any moment. This in turn can have the capacity to burn us out. It isn't to say that nothing viral is without interest or value, but it might not actually be the primary things that target our personal interest and promote a sense of wonder in our lives. So rewilding, breaking out of the curated algorithmic mold, is a great way to reengage with information.

I think Mr. Thompson's 9 suggestions are all pretty good and will not go over them again here besides to say the following. Yes to CSS (I, like Scott, primarily use Feedly which I transitioned to when Google made the regrettable decision to discontinue Google Reader). I love how CSS feeds can really let you pick and choose what to follow, it allows for a far more dynamic engagement with the information that you are interested in. Also yes to non-fiction books. While I am not an absolutist in saying they need to be physical print books (I read a lot of ebooks myself), I do think there is some unquestionable benefit from actually picking up a book and leafing through its pages. Working for a library I tend to have the added benefit of being able to take regular explorations of discovery. If you don't have the constant access to a library then make a habit of picking up books when you encounter them out in the wild. Pick them up at friends house, at work, wherever. It's great.

An added thing, check out Wikipedia. I know we all probably use it sometime, but the vast wealth of information there is astounding. Just clicking "random article" can bring one to amazing worlds of discovery. If you actually take the time to follow out some of the cited sources and external links you can find even more. Wikipedia is truly a great tool for learning more about the world and digging into personal interests.

So give rewilding a shot. Don't let yourself get stuck with the limitations of algorithms. There is far more out there to experience and enjoy.