In The Age of Limitless Information, We Don’t Cultivate The Skill of Reflection
Abstraction is Not Reflection
Key Takeaway:
· The skill of reflecting is hard, and the era of limitless information is making things worse in three distinct ways
o It’s contributing to information overload which clouds our ability to self-reflect
o It cultivates a sense of judgement for many of our thoughts
o It contributes to an environment that is free of solitude which make it even harder to self-reflect adequately
From my personal experience as well as my experience working with students, I have noticed our incapacity to reflect deeply on why we do what we do and how it affects their work. With so much information at our fingertips, it's easy to explain why we feel certain things or understand certain things. Yet, many of us will lack the simple ability to observe what is happening internally at a particular moment.
Perhaps the limitless information we have access to through the internet contributes to the problem. Here is my hunch about why it might be the case.
Information overload
Many of my students are drowning in information on what problems we can or should solve gets in the way of what we feel or notice about ourselves. Yet, all this information clouds our capacity to self-reflect adequately.
Something similar has happened to me in the past. I remember all the articles I would read to help write my statement for medical school. I read about all the tools, tactics, and tricks to write a riveting personal statement that would knock the admission committee member's socks off. Unfortunately, my mind was swimming in so much information I couldn't self-reflect adequately to uncover my "why" for medicine. There is a clear difference between observing yourself and theorizing about yourself. With all my free-floating knowledge it became far easier to abstract and theorize rather than observe and reflect.
Judgement
Sometimes I will catch myself swatting away an observation about myself because I'm disgusted that I would even think that way. Sometimes I will get giddy when I interact with a patient because they say thank you after a simple conversation. I'll quickly tell myself, "Stop it, Joshua! You cannot get addicted to them saying thank you because many patients will not get it. What will you do then? Don't expect it." Judging myself blinds me to reflect on what gives me joy while engaging in patient interactions, which can be crucial information on who I am as a person.
Lack of Solitude
Solitude does not just mean being alone. It means being in a space with no input from other minds—whether from another person talking, a podcast, or music [insert Cal Newport article link here]. I have found that the mind will eventually wade into doing nothing and quickly reject it. Suddenly reflection will feel far more satisfying to the mind than doing nothing.
§ https://www.calnewport.com/blog/2017/09/24/spend-more-time-alone/