How long do you spend on an average day without a screen, music, or other media input? If you’re like me, it’s usually not very long. I’m listening to an audiobook or podcast on my commute, listening to music at home, and occasionally watching movies or videos for entertainment. This cycle of media consumption has many benefits: new information, perspectives, and ideas passing through your mind for many hours a day. But with so much information streaming my way, could there be benefits to the avoidance of such inputs? When do I listen to my own thoughts and ideas?
In short, how much time each day are you reading another author’s views, hearing another artist’s beats, or otherwise under the influence of another persons ideas?
After listening to a sequence of various podcasts of a certain topic during a roadtrip lately, I found the seemingly clever ideas ringing in my head for the remainder of that day. Yet I also noticed a lack of my own individual opinions, or it seemed that I was in agreement with the points that I remembered. It was only the following day that I took a more critical examination of those thoughts. I realized that I had been serving as a passive listener rather than an active critic, and by passively consuming the information I wasn’t debating the key points or thinking of alternatives. Instead, I followed along in silent agreement until my long drive was over. I realized that although the original plan was to use the podcasts as sources of inspiration and idea starters, the results didn’t necessarily meet expectations.
One of the missing factors I found during this podcast marathon was involvement and interaction with the ideas I was presented with. Listening to one speaker and taking notes can provide a very different experience than a round table discussion with all the listeners involved. Similarly, reading a book and writing an essay about it may provide a different outlook than active discussions between multiple readers of that book. I can’t say that one option is objectively better than another. However, I find that the activate participation element to be a key in determining how strongly I hold an opinion and the rationale behind it.
Many forms of media are built to be continuous streams of information. I imagine that if audiobooks had a 15 minute pause every hour, the patience of many listeners would be put to the test! It’s probably best to leave the choice of taking a break to the user, but I for one don’t find it natural to stop this information stream and serious think on my own about the content.
A step I’ve been taking recently is to take time each week (ideally more frequent, shorter time periods) to consider my own thoughts and opinions about the information I’m being supplied with. I usually have immediate judgements when first presented with information, but verifying that my rationale isn’t a shallow facade can be helpful and reaffirming.
To summarize, I think quiet time for one’s self is greatly underestimated and undervalued. Sure, keeping up with what’s happening around you can be useful, but reading or hearing ideas from other people can take away from the time when you’re creating your own original ideas. This is one perspective on how ignoring expert advice in a given field can allow for compelling new ideas to come about. While heeding the advice can prevent costly mistakes, avoiding the usually learning process and trying new independent ideas might offer unexpected improvements despite defying a convention or two.
So I urge you – spend some time with your own thoughts today, without the intrusion of someone else’s thoughts!
Weekly Extreme Exception
This week’s feature is a story little known outside of aviation lore. During one of the early Boeing 707 public showings, the test pilot decided, unannounced, to execute a couple of barrel rolls. Many executives were not pleased, to say the least, but I’ll agree that it was a creative and conclusive manner to demonstrate the aircraft’s capabilities! Given that planes this large are never designed for such maneuvers, no other large jets have pulled off such a stunt, and this event is now a legend. Warning: maintain low expectations for analog video quality and resolution.
