Halfway through my assignment reading half a textbook called Hyertext 3.0 (for a graduate class called Writing for Electronic Communities), I know I am supposed to feel excited about the notion that text is becoming three dimensional, that readers are now authors, that technology is now empowering me to read ten documents at once, exploring multiple dimensions of a subject with the click of a mouse. Instead I feel disengaged, dehumanized, and frankly, overwhelmed.
Am I alone?
As I quickly (oh so quickly) click my way through my classmates blog postings (another weekly assignment), foraging for something that I can connect with to comment on in my own weekly post, I feel myself drowning in a sea of information. Instead of finding something to connect with, I find nothing. Too much information. The words, video, images cancel each other out. They are an orchestra warming up. The instruments that make beautiful sounds alone, make discordant noise when played together.
As I write this blog, people (real ones) talk, move, connect…all without me. I am imprisoned by information, held hostage by blogs, posts, texts, readings, links. Why is it that what is supposed to connect me with the thoughts of others makes me feel disconnected?
I have decided that I don’t want to read five documents at once. I want to read just one, really well. I’ll remember it when I read my next one, thank you, and I’ll make the connections needed to assimilate information because I will have processed it well enough to truly understand it.
I am drowning in information. Can anyone save me?
