Here’s a pop quiz for you. What do…
Michelle Obama…
Dave Chappelle…
And Spike Lee…
All have in common?
Take a moment and get past your first gut reaction. No? Nothing else comes to mind? Here’s the answer then:
All three of these cultural figures have publicly complained about being “bombarded with information.”
Of course, it’s not just the three of them.
This information bombardment thing has become a big cultural cliche, and thousands of people are out there right now, on Facebook and Twitter, repeating the same line.
Which probably means this idea of being bombarded with information — if if ever was true — is not very accurate any more.
In that case, it’s ripe for being replaced by a different, more useful point of view. And just in time, here’s A-list copywriter Richard Armstrong on the matter:
“It makes no more sense to say we are bombarded with information than to say a fish is bombarded with water.”
In Richard’s point of view, we are NOT bombarded with information.
Instead, we’re swimming in it.
We’re living in it.
And to a large extent, we are actually made of it.
The fact is, we’re all adapting very quickly to the increasing quantities of information around us.
Most of us realize on some level that all sources of information — newspapers, personal blogs, online forums, Facebook ads — are biased and are trying to sell us something (even if it’s just a point of view).
The thing is, it doesn’t seem to matter too much.
That’s because we are not independent fortresses trying to protect ourselves from information grenades…
Instead, we are spongy organisms that soak up information all the time, based on what we find tasty.
I’ll stop with this post here, because I am worried it’s getting too abstract.
But this philosophical discussion does have very practical applications. And if you want to know what those are, and how you can use them to communicate more swimmingly with your audience, you might like my upcoming book: