When I was recovering from long Covid and chronic fatigue syndrome, meditation and non-doing were key to healing. Now that I’ve recovered and re-integrated into life, I have to be cautious about my relationship to rest. This newsletter helps me keep prioritizing that need. For me at least, spaciousness is a nonnegotiable like food, water, and sleep.
I just returned from a trip to Asia, where I lost my phone getting out of a rickshaw. Three weeks ago. The most restful time I’ve ever had. No pings, no reminders, no urgent need breaking news to check, no scrolling reels coming up hours later. It was a time of peace, of looking at what was around me, not being cross if someone wanted to talk and interrupted my scrolling. Recommend this for everyone. Put it in a drawer.
I suggest that the problem is not too much information but rather too much opinion. The author describes doomscrolling, seeing one emotionally charged headline after another, but those are not information. Those are opinions. In fact, most of what passes for information is really an opinion.
Information comes from the Middle English which means “formation of the mind, teaching”. In mathematics information is a mathematical quantity expressing the probability of occurrence of a particular sequence of symbols, impulses etc., as contrasted with that of alternative experiences.
So for a message to truly contain information it should be precise, accurate, present at least a somewhat complete view of the topic and teach us something. This is NOT what is found in most social media feeds or news feeds.
I don’t think we can get too much information because information makes us think, question our opinions. To use the author’s food analogy information is like nutritionally dense food. It satiates us rather quickly and then we go digest it. We don’t doomscrolling information. The opinions that we see are like junk food. They satisfy in the moment and then we want more.
A dietician I worked with many years ago used the term “callback”. It referred to how much something you ate called you back for more. Nutritious food tended to have a low callback. You ate a carrot and the rest of the carrots in the fridge were not calling you back to eat them. Instead you wanted to absorb the nutrition from the carrot you ate. On the other hand a potato chip had a high callback. Eat one and the rest of the chips were calling you very loudly to eat them.
We can perhaps use that to distinguish information on the internet from opinions and emotionally charged drivel. If what we observe stimulates us to think deeply and reflect on what we have learned rather than find more of the same then it is likely to be helpful information. If what we observe stimulates us to keep looking for more and more without deep thinking then it is likely we are just reading opinions.
My ritual of no phone after 8pm helps me focus on the nightly routine to set myself up for sleep success. Quality sleep has such a positive impact on my mental wellness, so getting my 8 hours is a high priority. Sending gratitude to Cort and Richie for all you do 💚
Powerful truths! I had to listen to this three times. There is great power in being intentional with what we consume mentally. We are constantly overbombarded with junk information in exchange for addictive highs, and it takes being a warrior of intention to stay afloat above the noise. Thank you, Dr. Dahl!
Love this reflection. I find simply reading a book makes a huge difference also walking with the dog without the phone in a beautiful outdoor space. The mind feels much more at ease relaxed and aware with these simple acts.
Hi Cort, so true and profound, have gone thru exactly the same process. Nevertheless there is one exercise that might be worth trying once in a blue moon: when you are in the middle of scrolling or binging on info, turn in and look at you mind, "what am i doing", look at the screen with full awareness and it looses its grip on us. I am lucky to live in a faraway forest in the Dordogne where even if i want to screen binge, the stone walls of my old house often interrupt the transmission, kind of a magic protection; instead of frustration i've learned to laugh at myself and let go and turn off the phone. Most times i leave it outside of my room. In the 1980's when Orgyan Topgyal Rinpoche first came to Paris he wanted to see all the most bloody and violent movies. I asked him why: "he said i want yo make sure i'll be able to maintain full awareness in the bardo....
Such a valuable and useful message. The same thing happened to me when starting to use my phone as an alarm. It’s been a difficult habit to break… Thank you for the article!
On a constructive note (and perhaps I’m wrong): this article feels specially strong as if written by AI, fading your unique voice.
G.I. Gurdjieff taught that there are three kinds of food we consume.
There is, of course, the ordinary food (or food-like substances) that we consume to feed or bodies. This is what people concerned with their diet, their nutrition, their weight, etc. may pay attention to and try to regulate according to concerns or desires or plans to perhaps try to attain some better state of being and functioning.
There is also the air we breathe. This is not just oxygen in and carbon dioxide out. In fact, it's mostly nitrogen in and nitrogen out, because nitrogen constitutes about 78% of Earth's atmosphere. Oxygen is next at about 21% and we're inclined to be most concerned about this because it is essential to building, repairing and powering our bodies. Carbon dioxide is only a very tiny percentage at about 0.04%, yet it is also very important in the operation of our inner systems even though we mostly think about simply getting rid of it as we exhale. Along with these basic considerations, we also inhale all sorts of stuff, whether gaseous or particulate, that is blowing in the wind, some of which is natural, much of which we humans have introduced into our ecosystem either intentionally or unintentionally.
Thirdly, though, are the impressions we take in yet seldom consider the quantity and quality of. There is everything we see, whether in the form of visual images: still; dynamic; natural; symbolic; artistic; informational; entertaining; etc. And everything we hear: voices; sounds; noise; music; natural; artificial; etc. All that we feel physically: touch; hard; soft; smooth; rough; wet; warm; cold; etc. And all that we taste and smell: sweet; sour; bitter; salty; umami; fragrant; woody; minty; chemical; fruity; pungent; decayed; and countless others. Yet, beyond these standard senses, we also take in endless other impressions that have to do with physical, emotional and mental stimuli that come to us from both external sources and internal sources. Our internally generated impressions are often useful in providing signals that inform us about the inner functioning of our physical bodies and even our emotional and intellectual functioning. Often, these internally generated signals are warning signs that we need to pay attention to and act upon, provided we can determine what problem might be afflicting us and what the remedy might be.
We consume many of these multitudes of impressions by choice, each according to our preferences. Others we consume by habit, which may have started by choice or by chance. Many sources of impressions are imposed upon us even if we might prefer to avoid them. Meanwhile, we may have learned to avoid or somehow filter out and ignore some impressions. And then there are the impression sources that we have willingly or unwillingly allowed ourselves to be hijacked by and possibly even become addicted to — perhaps such as social media.
The impressions we consume affect our entire being, physically, emotionally and mentally. They can help us feel good or bad, be healing or debilitating, nurture us or ruin us. In spite of their huge and pervasive influence upon our well-being and our ability to flourish, people often pay very little attention to what and how they are feeding themselves in this realm of consumption. A more awakened and aware person can learn how to pay more attention to this aspect of their consumption diet and make more conscious choices in order to help improve their quality of life and perhaps even extend the quantity of their life.
By the way, I do use my phone as my alarm for all sorts of things, but I almost never use it to look at anything on the web, let alone social media. I do almost all of my reading and social media activity on my computer. When I decide it's time to go to sleep, I put my computer to sleep, set my phone on the stand by my bed, crawl into bed and go to sleep.
I am totally capable of ignoring any "alert" sounds my phone might make while I'm falling asleep or actually sleeping. When a wake up alarm goes off, I wake up. But I do not pick up my phone to start looking at alerts or scrolling through news or social media — that can all wait until I'm ready to spend some time in front of my computer.
And if I happen to get a phone call while I'm sleeping, I can choose to answer that or ignore it, and then go back to sleep.
One of the benefits of doing inner work, such as meditation and other practices, which many people seem to be unaware of, is gaining greater self-mastery. To a great extent, this means self-mastery over monkey-mind. It's not about stopping thoughts, although that is possible, it's about thinking with masterful intention and attention, rather than being hijacked with every little internal or external impression that might arise.
When I was recovering from long Covid and chronic fatigue syndrome, meditation and non-doing were key to healing. Now that I’ve recovered and re-integrated into life, I have to be cautious about my relationship to rest. This newsletter helps me keep prioritizing that need. For me at least, spaciousness is a nonnegotiable like food, water, and sleep.
I just returned from a trip to Asia, where I lost my phone getting out of a rickshaw. Three weeks ago. The most restful time I’ve ever had. No pings, no reminders, no urgent need breaking news to check, no scrolling reels coming up hours later. It was a time of peace, of looking at what was around me, not being cross if someone wanted to talk and interrupted my scrolling. Recommend this for everyone. Put it in a drawer.
A glimpse of life not that long ago and for the rest of human history
So true. Thankful I had a childhood and early adulthood before phones and AI.
I suggest that the problem is not too much information but rather too much opinion. The author describes doomscrolling, seeing one emotionally charged headline after another, but those are not information. Those are opinions. In fact, most of what passes for information is really an opinion.
Information comes from the Middle English which means “formation of the mind, teaching”. In mathematics information is a mathematical quantity expressing the probability of occurrence of a particular sequence of symbols, impulses etc., as contrasted with that of alternative experiences.
So for a message to truly contain information it should be precise, accurate, present at least a somewhat complete view of the topic and teach us something. This is NOT what is found in most social media feeds or news feeds.
I don’t think we can get too much information because information makes us think, question our opinions. To use the author’s food analogy information is like nutritionally dense food. It satiates us rather quickly and then we go digest it. We don’t doomscrolling information. The opinions that we see are like junk food. They satisfy in the moment and then we want more.
A dietician I worked with many years ago used the term “callback”. It referred to how much something you ate called you back for more. Nutritious food tended to have a low callback. You ate a carrot and the rest of the carrots in the fridge were not calling you back to eat them. Instead you wanted to absorb the nutrition from the carrot you ate. On the other hand a potato chip had a high callback. Eat one and the rest of the chips were calling you very loudly to eat them.
We can perhaps use that to distinguish information on the internet from opinions and emotionally charged drivel. If what we observe stimulates us to think deeply and reflect on what we have learned rather than find more of the same then it is likely to be helpful information. If what we observe stimulates us to keep looking for more and more without deep thinking then it is likely we are just reading opinions.
My ritual of no phone after 8pm helps me focus on the nightly routine to set myself up for sleep success. Quality sleep has such a positive impact on my mental wellness, so getting my 8 hours is a high priority. Sending gratitude to Cort and Richie for all you do 💚
Powerful truths! I had to listen to this three times. There is great power in being intentional with what we consume mentally. We are constantly overbombarded with junk information in exchange for addictive highs, and it takes being a warrior of intention to stay afloat above the noise. Thank you, Dr. Dahl!
Love this reflection. I find simply reading a book makes a huge difference also walking with the dog without the phone in a beautiful outdoor space. The mind feels much more at ease relaxed and aware with these simple acts.
Thanks for sharing your insight, Richard
Hi Cort, so true and profound, have gone thru exactly the same process. Nevertheless there is one exercise that might be worth trying once in a blue moon: when you are in the middle of scrolling or binging on info, turn in and look at you mind, "what am i doing", look at the screen with full awareness and it looses its grip on us. I am lucky to live in a faraway forest in the Dordogne where even if i want to screen binge, the stone walls of my old house often interrupt the transmission, kind of a magic protection; instead of frustration i've learned to laugh at myself and let go and turn off the phone. Most times i leave it outside of my room. In the 1980's when Orgyan Topgyal Rinpoche first came to Paris he wanted to see all the most bloody and violent movies. I asked him why: "he said i want yo make sure i'll be able to maintain full awareness in the bardo....
Thanks for sharing
Thank you for the post. To explore this idea (the mind having an information "diet") further, read this book. It's great: https://www.amazon.com/Information-Diet-Case-Conscious-Consumption/dp/1449304680/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3F219X8NAQ84C&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Pl7QGHZ6PlDiGlp8buQtWqEFvh54m9-Y9cztON8BkJBLKE6qDZv7yGVtb2PZ5hTooeeaUYeG1XevfsctIqiIGzZ5h08dI3oX_JgV7PBf1xceo5SznvYr5Hb4LQaH3ht6YFzUDOpltxcCOZJt9xbm35uplyedJTOK03y-0T0M1hPuoF6IPaCK5ZSl2YuU--dWX6fw-GxSzn_qy2xdppIuAL4Q8bghfPkHd5NV2TPn9pE.WIqB8ZezZ5jKE8W8paKCdxRzeLTXyRSJPPXwQM0uJZo&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+information+diet&qid=1763981589&sprefix=the+infromation+diet%2Caps%2C139&sr=8-1
Such a valuable and useful message. The same thing happened to me when starting to use my phone as an alarm. It’s been a difficult habit to break… Thank you for the article!
On a constructive note (and perhaps I’m wrong): this article feels specially strong as if written by AI, fading your unique voice.
Initially, leaving the phone in the kitchen felt very odd. Then it felt like a vacation.
G.I. Gurdjieff taught that there are three kinds of food we consume.
There is, of course, the ordinary food (or food-like substances) that we consume to feed or bodies. This is what people concerned with their diet, their nutrition, their weight, etc. may pay attention to and try to regulate according to concerns or desires or plans to perhaps try to attain some better state of being and functioning.
There is also the air we breathe. This is not just oxygen in and carbon dioxide out. In fact, it's mostly nitrogen in and nitrogen out, because nitrogen constitutes about 78% of Earth's atmosphere. Oxygen is next at about 21% and we're inclined to be most concerned about this because it is essential to building, repairing and powering our bodies. Carbon dioxide is only a very tiny percentage at about 0.04%, yet it is also very important in the operation of our inner systems even though we mostly think about simply getting rid of it as we exhale. Along with these basic considerations, we also inhale all sorts of stuff, whether gaseous or particulate, that is blowing in the wind, some of which is natural, much of which we humans have introduced into our ecosystem either intentionally or unintentionally.
Thirdly, though, are the impressions we take in yet seldom consider the quantity and quality of. There is everything we see, whether in the form of visual images: still; dynamic; natural; symbolic; artistic; informational; entertaining; etc. And everything we hear: voices; sounds; noise; music; natural; artificial; etc. All that we feel physically: touch; hard; soft; smooth; rough; wet; warm; cold; etc. And all that we taste and smell: sweet; sour; bitter; salty; umami; fragrant; woody; minty; chemical; fruity; pungent; decayed; and countless others. Yet, beyond these standard senses, we also take in endless other impressions that have to do with physical, emotional and mental stimuli that come to us from both external sources and internal sources. Our internally generated impressions are often useful in providing signals that inform us about the inner functioning of our physical bodies and even our emotional and intellectual functioning. Often, these internally generated signals are warning signs that we need to pay attention to and act upon, provided we can determine what problem might be afflicting us and what the remedy might be.
We consume many of these multitudes of impressions by choice, each according to our preferences. Others we consume by habit, which may have started by choice or by chance. Many sources of impressions are imposed upon us even if we might prefer to avoid them. Meanwhile, we may have learned to avoid or somehow filter out and ignore some impressions. And then there are the impression sources that we have willingly or unwillingly allowed ourselves to be hijacked by and possibly even become addicted to — perhaps such as social media.
The impressions we consume affect our entire being, physically, emotionally and mentally. They can help us feel good or bad, be healing or debilitating, nurture us or ruin us. In spite of their huge and pervasive influence upon our well-being and our ability to flourish, people often pay very little attention to what and how they are feeding themselves in this realm of consumption. A more awakened and aware person can learn how to pay more attention to this aspect of their consumption diet and make more conscious choices in order to help improve their quality of life and perhaps even extend the quantity of their life.
By the way, I do use my phone as my alarm for all sorts of things, but I almost never use it to look at anything on the web, let alone social media. I do almost all of my reading and social media activity on my computer. When I decide it's time to go to sleep, I put my computer to sleep, set my phone on the stand by my bed, crawl into bed and go to sleep.
I am totally capable of ignoring any "alert" sounds my phone might make while I'm falling asleep or actually sleeping. When a wake up alarm goes off, I wake up. But I do not pick up my phone to start looking at alerts or scrolling through news or social media — that can all wait until I'm ready to spend some time in front of my computer.
And if I happen to get a phone call while I'm sleeping, I can choose to answer that or ignore it, and then go back to sleep.
One of the benefits of doing inner work, such as meditation and other practices, which many people seem to be unaware of, is gaining greater self-mastery. To a great extent, this means self-mastery over monkey-mind. It's not about stopping thoughts, although that is possible, it's about thinking with masterful intention and attention, rather than being hijacked with every little internal or external impression that might arise.