Hubby #2 is a pretty smart guy. Even so, when he was in medical school, he had to study really hard for the grades. Once he graduated, he started getting medical journals delivered to the house. JAMA…the Journal of the American Medical Association…was the biggest one. Lancet…the British equivalent. There were issues dealing with pathology, dermatology, cancer. There are a zillion of these magazines that doctors get and they have a name for them. Except for the top two or three, doctors refer to them as “throw aways”.
H2 would clip articles, make files, read, read, and read some more. The making of a doctor is not a pretty thing. Nor is it at all glamorous. Long, long hours with very little sleep. Cram studying in there and a family? Let’s just say, it’s no wonder the divorce rate is high in that field. One particularly rough rotation, I found him curled up on the bed. I sat down beside him and asked what was wrong. He said he couldn’t learn enough to make a difference. It wasn’t long after that when he had an a-ha moment. One of his mentors told him the most important thing he would ever learn in medical school is where to look things up. From then on, things went much more smoothly. And he began throwing away the superfluous stuff. He stopped clipping articles. And he became a knowledgeable and beloved physician.
This was back in the days before the internet. What on earth did we do without smart phones and Google? When I was in the hospital last month, the doctor kept getting texts while we spoke. I can clearly see both sides of this issue. Frustrating as the patient but so incredibly useful as a physician. How much easier life would have been had H2 had a smart phone. I remember when he got his first Palm Pilot. Oy…
The amount of information that comes to us in any given day is mind boggling. It’s easy to become overwhelmed when it’s too much. We shut down. Is the world really worse than it’s ever been? Or are we just bombarded with every story…with every news outlet vying for the ratings by sensationalizing everything? Bad things have always happened. Every single day. We just didn’t have it thrown in our faces 24/7/365. It’s too much. This is why I cut out television. The month after Mr. Virgo died, I got the satellite bill and realized I hadn’t even considered turning the TV on. Not once. I called and cancelled the service. I do have it here at the farm in case of an emergency and I need news. In the fifteen months I’ve lived here, I have watched TV maybe three times. My life is so much more peaceful without the box entertaining me….bombarding me…enticing me…scaring me. I don’t need to see the images in order to feel the horror of an event.
We become what we consume, and that includes information. A chaotic world creates a chaotic life…and, vice versa. ❤️
“The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.”
Proverbs 18:15 NIV