Information overload: 1773

There came on a dreadful storm of wind and rain, which continued all day, and rather increased at night. The wind was directly against our getting to Mull. We were in a strange state of abstraction from the world: we could neither hear from our friends, nor write to them. Col had brought Daille on the Fathers, Lucas on Happiness, and More's Dialogues, from the Reverend Mr. M'Lean's, and Burnet's History of his own Times, from Captain M'Lean's; and he had of his own some books of farming, and Gregory's Geometry. Dr. Johnson read a good deal of Burnet, and of Gregory, and I observed he made some geometrical notes in the end of his pocket-book. I read a little of Young's Six Weeks' Tour through the Southern Counties; and Ovid's Epistles, which I had bought at Inverness, and which helped to solace many a weary hour.

--From Boswell's Life of Johnson--

It's like Twitter went down and they spent the day watching DVD's borrowed from friends.

What is so bad about being consumed by media? Seems like very intelligent people of the past lived and breathed media. Even when they weren't using media they were talking about or making illusions to things they had been exposed to.

I propose that it is the quality of media that matters, not quantity, and hereby resolves to try and immerse myself as much as possible in the world of thoughts and ideas.