Daed & Confused: The plot is out of control: A reality Juggle

Attention deficit disorder is a weird phenomenon. It has the distinction of being both demonstrably true—people these days are addled with short attention spans and twitchy legs—and demonstrably constructed.

ADD didn’t exist 40 years ago, or at least it wasn’t diagnosed, which is basically the same thing. We built it up out of a need to deal with ever-zapping electro-culture.

But I’m not here to argue the merits of ADD. Constructed or not, it exists. I’m here to explain my theory on how different people respond to our over-stimulated world. As always, I am the guinea pig. (My generation also has a problem with narcissism.)

The first reaction to our cultural sausage factory is what I call the “YouTube and video games” approach. Entertainment either needs to be incredibly short or incredibly stimulating—cats playing piano or push-button exploding heads.

If I had to guess, I’d say this type of brain simmer is slightly more prevalent, especially as the age range gets younger. The second reaction is arguably worse, and it’s how I’d classify myself. I’m a data hoarder.

As of this moment, I’m partway through reading 12 different books. I’m following six different TV shows, not counting Mad Men, which just ended. I’m midseason on a couple different DVD series. I’m halfway through three movies, and generally finish at least two a week. I subscribe to two magazines, which I read cover to cover.

I also absorb at least half the words in all three of Portland’s free weeklies, a hefty chunk of The Oregonian, and any other newspaper that floats into my grubby paws. I read at least five blogs near continuously, and file through another four or five national publications online daily. I also listen to at least three new albums a week, plus a host of music I still like.

What’s scary is that I’m not even accounting for it all. The above list is a conservative estimate. Even worse? I doubt that I’m atypical.

We’ve become masters at juggling a multitude of plots and realities, cramming them into our lives. When laid bare, however, we’re goddamn insane. I know I am. As we progressively evolve, the shape of reality is morphing underneath us.

The media world is largely crumbling beneath our feet and no one, exactly, can figure out why. That’s because firm economic principles are failing to account for the new equation. The supply and demand for media are both skyrocketing at the same time and no one is ever satisfied.

Scholars who study the effect of the Internet on journalism are starting to point out that we’ve destroyed the old system and failed to build anything in its place. But it’s not just journalism—it’s all media. The pockets of the Internet making money are either concrete businesses selling concrete products, or they’re clouds of smoke packed in so tightly they seem real.

But it’s not just that we’ve failed to replace old systems, it’s that we’ve built monoliths of new ideas that can simply never exist in a workable, constructive reality.

The other shoe is not going to drop. We are all on one leg, pogoing like mad.