Too Much Information Syndrome

Nowadays, it is common to fall into what I like to call the “TMI syndrome”.  Recently in my research towards transferring undergraduate universities I found a nice resource that provides feedback on just about every university in the United States.  This website had critical reviews based on the social, academic, and dorm lives of the colleges I was prospecting in the southeast.  Throughout the different collections of responses many of them were radical.  As I spent over an hour browsing different colleges the realization came to me that no one review really gave an accurate view of reality.  The experiences combined of all of these people were statistically analyzed to give a letter grade to the school, as some claimed greatness and others warned to stay away.

Knowledge and preparation is an advantage of the internet in the modern age but can hinder natural gut instincts about decisions.  When I shelter myself from every mistake I become incapable of handling life as it comes.  Consumer reports are popular for buyers and I myself have been saved from cheap imported merchandise by Amazons review system.  A few times I was deterred completely from purchasing certain products because of their negative feedback and this occasionally made me wonder what it would have been like, had I purchased the product.

Decisions I make are affected by my own touch of TMI.  It can take me twice as long to make a choice because of my expectations for perfection.  Sadly there is no such thing as perfect and I often think I need a wild mob of people to scream it into my ear as an occasional reminder.  A lot of friends that I speak with on a daily basis have trouble motivating themselves to take action.  I used to think this was just part of the welcoming kit to being a 20-something, until I found mature adults with the same setbacks.  Lately I try my hardest to average out the options and take as much advice as I can without letting it become domineering.

Information is a good thing.  However, learn to know when too much info, is too much info.  Nike got it right when they said, “Just do it.”