Everything in moderation.

While listening to yet another debate about gun control recently, I couldn’t help but think about the pros and cons of having the kinds of access, that most people in first-world countries have, to just about everything.

But, particularly, to information.

Of course, I appreciate that so much information is freely available to us, and the world has become so interlinked and connectable.

Having access to information the way we do means that we can comb through history, fact-check anything, work remotely, connect with more communities anywhere in the world, uncover the truth, revolt against the liars, protest unfair systems, and demand change and answers.

But I wonder how much social engineering, social isolation, impulse buying, cybercrimes, cyberbullying, and constant search for instant gratification need to happen before we design better guardrails around our use of the internet.

Are we waiting for the next mass murder to be streamed live? Or the next time a teenager dies after being cyberbullied? Or whenever another member of an online subculture group acts on their ridiculous beliefs?

We know (because we’ve always been told) that excess of everything isn’t good, but the problem is no one ever told us precisely what excess means.

The internet is great, but sooner or later, we need to ask ourselves if we have too much of a good thing here.

We have to ask ourselves if the benefits of our information overload outweigh the costs that we often have to bear. And we need to learn to control what and how much we have access to.

Have a happy June!

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