To Much Information! Or not enough?!?!

I just want to say that sometimes I am completely overwhelmed by the amount of information there is in the world and how much crosses our paths each day. And how much of it we are expected to keep track of, like current events, politics, etc.... I don't have a TV and don't watch it much anyway. That immediately eliminates a certain amount (and type?) of information. But I got an MP3 player for graduation so now I have the convenience of listening to that when I'm on the train, cooking, walking to school. I would guess I listen to non-music MP3 material an average of 2 hours a day. Most of these programs are Pod casts, some of which came from radio stations.

Most days I listen to an Austrian news program, a National Public Radio (NPR) 5 min. news summary, BBC World Service News, and then a smattering of other programs depending on my mood. Some of these include: Sermons from Jon Piper, NPR Environment, Grammar Girl, pod Climber, This American Life, A Prairie Home Companion, The Dirtbag Diaries (climbing and other outdoor stuff), Coffee Break Spanish, and a German grammar podcast, among others.

I feel like I take in a huge quantity of information each day and yet, I still feel like I am mission so much information, especially with current events. I feel like I never know quite enough about the middle east to understand what is really going on, or form my own opinion about it. Which candidate for the 2008 election do I support? Which is the opposition party in Pakistan the bad guy or is it the other guy, Musharraf? Or is he in another country? And did the what ended up happening at the big meeting to make goals after the Kyoto deal ends? How does the US holding out on joining affect whether China joins? Will they wait to make the new agreement until after the U.S. gets a new president in the hopes that this new pres will be more supportive of environmental issues? And why the heck was the SCHIP program vetoed? How can Bush say no to giving poor ids insurance? I don't have time to research and find out what his lame excuse was for denying children insurance and health care.

OK I couldn't help myself. Even though it is one in the morning I had to find out what his reason was. Basically he thought it was too much like socialized medicine. Ahhhh! The horror! Children, who can't even get jobs to pay for their own insurance, also can't get help from the government. "Mr. Bush, however, argued that the measure would push people with private health insurance into a government plan and would change the original purpose of the program by allowing it to cover adults. He likened it to a move toward socialized medicine. " (from an article in the NY Times). Well, as much as I have trouble seeing the good in him vetoing health care for kids, to be honest, I don't really know that much about the bill. I wish I did because I think it's important.

I am proud of myself a bit, becasue I am way more informed about the world now than I was even one or two years ago. I think some of that comes with getting older and hearing information in passing, but I have also made much more of a counsious effort to be informed about what's up in the world. But there is still so much more! It reminds me of my relationship ith God; the more I know, the more I feel like I don't know, but the more I want to know. Usually I feel realatively motivated to find out more, but somtimes it seems hopeless. I will never know it all. But how much is enough? What will satisfy me? Depending on whether we're talking about God or the news, the answer changes a lot. But that is a discussion for another day.

Anyone have any thoughts on SCHIP or information overload? How much do you need to keep up on current events to be satisfied? How much do you feel you need to know God or about him to be satisfied? Is that even the right question? Maybe not.