When researching anything, where do we go? The internet of course, and when we need specifics, it is Google. Dah! So that is what I did when looking for the capacity of our brains. After entering “how much information can the brain process at once” in the search bar, there were 700,000,000 results. My first-page favorite was “The Human Brain is Loaded Daily with 34 GB of Information”. I have a 2020 MacBook Pro that shows I’ve used 104.42 of the available 245.11 GB of memory. In other words, my brain is subjected to the entire contents (as of today anyway) of my laptop every 3.07 days. It’s no wonder we’re all going crazy!

My eldest is taking a 6-month sabbatical. The pressure of life has necessitated it, and fortunately, he is in a position to embrace it. His business partner supports his decision, and their funds allow it. His business-his life- is in the conception, design, creation, marketing, manufacturing, distribution, and funding of Middara. Simply put, it is a collaborative “Board-style” game on steroids that he and his partner have lived with for 15-years at least. All of this has taken an emotional toll on him and he needs a “time-out”.

At lunch today we commiserated, on the volume of “Information” we are forced to process regularly. Some of it is interesting, some amusing, and some (sadly, very little) beneficial. Most are just an onslaught on our senses and our psyche. There is a thirty-two-year difference in our ages, yet we both suffer from 34 GB of daily overload, just in different manifestations.

I decided to try comprehending what our younger generations are faced with. I was my son’s age in 1985. The traumas I remember vividly to that point in my life were Vietnam, assassinations (JFK, MLK & RFK), and Jonestown. He was born in 1986, and his list is staggering. 9/11, recession, and pandemic. George Floyd and the never-ending number of mass shootings. Not to forget politics and the Capitol riots, or the disputed election. Supply shortages, Inflation and $5 gas almost seem trivial until you appreciate they likely have a family and a finite budget. Adding fuel to the fire (in my mind) is that the events that happened in my life were metered in their delivery and offered in doses only in the newspaper and evening news. The internet was a non-issue, where today everything is in your face 24/7. You can’t escape it.

My iPhone has been having charging issues recently. I keep it relatively clean and (good or bad) use canned air directed to the charge port to keep lint out, so I thought the worst—I would need it repaired or replaced, neither being convenient. Making a Genius Bar appointment was quick and the tech that assisted me was super helpful. He wanted to keep my visit as inexpensive as possible which I appreciated. He thought it was lint in the port and excused himself to the back to take a look. While waiting, I decided to stand rather than remain seated so I could watch the people milling about. As I continued standing there, leaning on the cabinet behind me, I scanned the seating area of the Genius Bar and made an interesting observation, everyone was old, I mean retirement age old or older. As my gage broadened, I did start seeing younger people, but the dominate age continued to lean senior. The question I didn’t ask but wondered; are seniors in more need of help which is why there were so many there, or is it they are the only ones that can afford a $1.000 phone?