Why having endless facts and information creates more health and fitness problems than it solves
Here’s a line I read yesterday:
“We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning.”
That’s a sentence to sit with for a minute.
More information and less meaning.
If you’re one of the many overwhelmed souls who can’t tell up from down in a torrent of facts, theories, ideas, concepts, research papers, conspiracies, esoteric scrawling, and “value bombs” dropped in the maelstrom of social media, you might relate.
Information is just information.
Meaning happens when you and I and everybody else tell ourselves a story with information.
I warn against spending too much time online for this very reason. You’re exposed to a confusing assault of information that all conflicts with the rest, pulls you in three dozen directions, and makes you feel like you’re missing out on the one magical secret that will fix up all your problems.
That’s the wrong attitude.
Worse yet:
It isn’t just the information chewing at you like background static on a dead channel.
You’re facing dozens or hundreds of different stories from dozens or hundreds of so-called influencers.
Each one offers up a totally different story about this information storm.
Nobody agrees on anything because there’s no common meanings.
And now it isn’t even people. Machines are out there hijacking language to weave their own fantasy worlds.
Information overwhelm is one thing.
A conflict between competing views on the world is another thing.
It’s natural to think that things happen in objective reality, and the facts about objective happenings aren’t in dispute.
Or are they?
Stories frame and reframe facts.
Stories shape what facts show up and which don’t.
Stories show you which facts matter and which don’t.
Where’s the camera focusing and what’s blurry in the background?
Everybody’s got a story and they’re all trying to sell it.
I’ve got a story too. It has five acts:
Ignore all that trash.
Keep your focus on your target.
Do what you know works.
Ignore or eliminate everything else.
Above all, stay simple and keep simplifying.
I don’t ask you to keep track of 100 micro-nutrients in your food, stress out over 50 bio-markers in your blood work, or buy apps and wearables so you can turn your “health data” into part-time job while Big Tech data-mines your life to sell ads.
Info is info, meaning is meaning, and what works is what works.
My story is just another story, except for one detail:
It keeps you sane, focused, and effective.
On that note:
If you’ve got a question or comment, hit this week’s #AskMatt thread (free for email subscribers).
Matt Perryman