Information overload

In 1971, an essay in The Futurist magazine warned about an alarmingly increasing number of TV channels. Just four decades on, it seems that every generation __________ the world has reached information overload.

Television, radio, apps, e-books, the internet are causing so much __________ and stress in our lives, for we feel we no longer have control.

In 1970, Alvin Toffler described it as dizzying disorientation caused by the premature arrival of the future. Shortly after the __________ of his book, he gave an interview in a radio.

He claimed that the future will inevitably overwhelm us, because it is something __________ of our control that.

Ben Bagdikian has predicted that computers will soon be able to process information at a rate of 12 million words a minute, while the __________ of the human brain will manage much less.

And that’s a warning that we still hear today in many contexts. For example, Jonathan Franzen argues that traditional paper books give people the needed __________ in a world rocked by change and thus oppose to e-books.

He states that he doesn't see how you could stand the quick change psychologically. Yet history seems to suggest that we make a __________ choice that this is how we wish to spend our time.

We have a choice in the matter and our __________ of media is largely within our control.

We can change the channel, turn off the TV, or close the laptop __________. It is hard to see how any of these choices are irrational. We need to understand that we cannot run from the future and that by embracing change we might do some good.

Victor Cohn said: “Reject change, and we will be __________ by it. Accept change, and we may control it.”