Intellectual Junk Food

I'm reading a fiction book at the moment, which was given to me on holiday, so not something I chose. It's by a world best selling author who I don't think I have read before. I won't read anything of his again because, as far as I'm concerned, it is on a par with junk food.

I have struggled with just ditching it & moving on to the many books I own which are waiting patiently for me to read them. I find that really difficult to do. I have rarely given up on a book in my life - "Catch 22" did defeat me though, after several attempts.

The thing is my time is increasingly valuable. I really don't want to waste it. I wish I had realised how precious it is when I was much younger, but it has gone. Washed away by tides of things I shouldn't have done, didn't want to do, wasted time on.

I really want to play the piano, paint, read more. I want to learn, challenge my creativity, enjoy what I am doing. One enemy of that freedom is doing the many things I feel I have to do, because there is no one else to do them for me. The other enemy is technology.

I spend far too much time on a computer & watching the TV. In the case of the latter I only watch things I have recorded & therefore selected. But do I really need to spend so much time watching dramas which come & go & add nothing much to my life, although I do enjoy most. I am getting better at deleting before I get hooked. Fortunately I'm not addicted to my smartphone or iPad.

What is the time spent on the computer adding to my life? Well, I research quite a bit, so that is useful. Facebook keeps me in touch with some friends, (actual people I know I might add). Email also does that, plus it is increasingly the way I organise my life. Blogging replaces the close personal relationship I had with my husband. It's no substitute for actually discussing something with a person, but it will do.

My point is that I think we in the 21st centry are in increasingly danger of whiling away our lives on intellectual "junk food". Intelligent adults I know play silly games on their phones or tablets. Not only is this a waste of time in my view, it is solitary. There is no human interaction. Yes I know there are spurious arguments that it may develop this or that skill - Really?

People I know seem addicted to Facebook & post ridiculous video clips of animals doing cute things, or tell me they are in Starbucks, or post endless selfies. How have they got the time to do this? Why aren't they doing something better?

Is it me? Am I just sad? Or is there a lurking danger that this junk food disease will infect the younger generation to a point where there is no cure? Maybe they will be a new super generation with skills we never dreamed of? I'm not optimistic.