The Information You’re Exposed to Shapes Who You Are
Believe it or not, every piece of information you’ve consumed to this day has carved a little home into your brain and nestled itself there. The shows you’ve watched, the articles you’ve read, the people you’ve talked to…these tiny fragments of your life have worked together to build your character.
While it sounds dramatic, it’s true. Your exposure to different sources of knowledge is partially responsible for who you’ve become.
As you keep consuming content on the internet, you keep feeding your values and beliefs. This can be a double-edged sword depending on the knowledge you’ve been absorbing lately. Let’s face it — in the age of fake news where anyone can publish anything, the information handed to us isn’t necessarily enlightening.
Fortunately, it’s not too late to change that.
You Are What You Consume
According to Ian Zimmerman Ph.D., “Ultimately, consumption and identity can be closely related.” While this affirmation is tied to material consumption, it applies perfectly to the consumption of knowledge, as well.
Just as we may dress a certain way to make a statement, we may consume media formats to either polish the current version of ourselves or build a more knowledgeable future version of ourselves.
We consume content to learn things. To gain confidence. Maybe even to sound smart to our peers. Yes, even if we’re just doing it for entertainment purposes. Our brains never stop taking in new info, regardless if it’s good or bad, true or false.
In that case, what happens if we start consuming shallow, unimportant content that won’t take us anywhere? Does that mean our knowledge will become shallow?
If done regularly, yes. In an information-overload era, there’s so much noise and “attention-grabbers” everywhere. If we’re constantly drawn into that noise, not only will our productivity decrease, but our sources of reliable information will fall short.
What’s more, if you can barely keep up with your email inbox, let alone sifting through the information that truly matters to you. The mere thought of “keeping up” with everything is exhausting. You’ve got jobs to do, phone calls to answer. Eventually, a lot of us will put our quest for knowledge on the back burner. That, in turn, may risk our accomplishments.
Wired has said it all: there’s never been a better, yet more daunting time to be a reader. On the one hand, we’re exposed to a smorgasbord of free content where we can find every topic under the sun. On the other hand, our attention spans have shrinked close to 25% in just a few years. That’s a lot. What that means is: good luck to whoever’s trying to capture people’s attention on the internet (looking at you, marketers!).
Not to worry — there’s salvation among the confusion. Enter content curation.
Content Curation: The Filter in a Chaotic Space
Not just any curation, though. Human curation.
When done right, content curation is the equivalent of following part of someone’s path to expertise. After all, a great part of that person’s decision-making process and judgment is dictated by what they consume.
At its best, human-curated content is handpicked after being carefully examined. The expert responsible for the selection has decided that those pieces will be as helpful to their audience as it was to them. The only difference is, they’ve gone through the hard work of singling out the most important ones.
Next time you open an email newsletter, try not to disregard the weekly/monthly roundups that often follow this type of email. At least, not if you’d like to dive deeper into topics that are interesting to you. Why miss out on truly valuable information when it’s right in front of you?
Some blogs will often feature “handpicked content” instead of “related posts”. That’s the type of content curation you’re looking for.
Wrapping Up…
If what you consume shapes who you are, avoid wasting your time with irrelevant content, and don’t take carefully curated content for granted.
More than a random selection of articles, they’re a breath of fresh air in a polluted environment. They’re what bring the internet back to its best version: a global source that simplifies access to reliable information.
I’m building this at Glasp to give everyone the power to leave their learnings and experiences throughout their life as a utilitarian legacy for other people and future generations. If this resonates with you, please check it out!
Cheers,
Kazuki
