A short commentary:
We are truly living in the age of information, with an almost infinite array of resources readily accessible to everyone. When I was young, before the internet, my options were limited to newspapers, magazines, radio, and the library. Content was pre-curated, leaving me with little control over what information was available and few means to verify its accuracy.
Enter the age of the internet and sites like YouTube, where I now have the privilege of hearing insights from extremely intelligent people such as Sabine Hossenfelder and many others with advanced degrees. It’s truly mind-blowing that I can have the insights of these intelligent people from the highest academic institutions for free.
Therein is the problem. One of my main reasons for living longer is that I want to see what happens next. There are many highly intelligent people willing to share their opinions and insights, and I have become addicted to watching them. I have become that addicted gamer, spending too many hours in front of my computer screen. This can’t be healthy, but I am addicted to it.
I now spend about four hours a day watching YouTube videos on subjects that I am interested in. This is more addictive than nicotine. It is not a life-extension habit. It is information overload, but I am not likely to overcome this addiction.
… I’m 68, so I remember the pre-internet times very well. The internet didn’t get really going until the 90’s, when I was already in my 30’s. But those of us - such as myself - who are addicted to information, always found ways to feed their habit. I was a big consumer of specialty journals back in the day, 70’s-80’s-90’s spending hours at the university library checking out journals to feed my addictions. And yes, I too want to stay alive to find out “what’s next”. When I was a teenager I would outrage various family members, because I constantly read - at meals, walking and reading, reading everywhere possible and under all circumstances (just the other day I saw a young fellow reading a book while walking along the street in my neighborhood - that used to be me, 50 years ago!). Of course the internet was like mainlining info straight into my veins. At various times I tried to curb this - and I can be off all that when camping or travelling the world - but I always fall back into it. I’m afraid it’ll never change. But hey, we all choose how to spend our lives - for me it’s experiences, like concerts exhibits and the like, and information aquisition, but it’s no different than if you are addicted to video games… the trick is to structure your life in such a way that your addictions don’t destroy you or your relationships.