Why We Can’t Think Clearly Anymore: The Mental Clarity Crisis

Technology has made our lives easier in many ways, but at the same time, it has given us an overwhelming amount of information. We are always updated with the latest things and the latest happenings. Whatever you want to know is just one click away.

In the past, there was no such thing as ChatGPT telling us what to do in advance, and most things were learned from mistakes. To find answers, people had to look for them in libraries or ask experts. Then the internet came, and Google made it much easier to find information.

After that, YouTube made it even better because people could actually see how things work and learn visually. Today, almost anything you want to find out is just one or two keywords away. Things have never been as easy as they are now.

Whatever is happening in the world, we are informed. What you’re supposed to eat, what not to eat, whether dairy is good or bad, and what the best morning routine is. Should you eat fruit before or after breakfast? Are you over-exercising? Do you have a certain disease because you’re lacking a vitamin, or are you burnt out because of something else?

With so much information out there, we should be able to think more clearly, right? But in reality, the opposite is happening. Many people today have become indecisive and confused due to information overload and the overwhelming number of choices available.

If you look at the dating world today, it feels like there are endless options, which should sound good, right? But it has actually become emotionally draining. In modern dating, we are hearing words like situationship, soft-launching, talking stage, and ghosting. Something as simple as clarity is no longer clearly defined, and everything feels shallow.

People are feeling mentally overwhelmed and fatigued because they are no longer having real mental downtime.

One of the main factors behind this is the algorithm. It gives us the feeling of being in control, but in reality, it's giving us an illusion of being in control. It is stealing our attention away and mostly deciding for us what we see and, over time, what we should do, want or even believe. Our attention and choices don’t feel like they are truly ours anymore.

When you watch a YouTube video and finish one, there are so many suggested videos below, with clickbait headlines pulling you to find out what’s next instead of actually applying the advice from the video you just watched. This is a supernormal stimulus. Today’s algorithms are creating more consumers than producers.

Many people are also experiencing brain fog these days. Our ability to focus is weakening due to technologies designed to capture our attention. Take a simple scenario: you’re having a conversation with a family member and a notification pops up. What’s the first thing most people do? They look at their phone.

We live in a digital environment where attention is currency. Whether you’re clicking or watching something, somebody is getting paid.

We often feel like we can’t focus and end up blaming ourselves for it. But the truth is, digital technology today is designed to compete for our attention. There is so much information available, paired with enticing headlines that trigger addictive dopamine hits.

We struggle to focus for 20 minutes, yet we can watch reels for hours without feeling tired. If we feel bored for even five minutes, we instinctively pick up our phones. This digital environment has trained our brains to seek constant stimulation. Being bored, even for a few minutes, has become unbearable for most people.

But the truth is, boredom is when the mind becomes quiet. That’s when the brain actually gets the space to process the information it has consumed. Now, what’s happening is that we consume so much that our brains don’t even get time to process it. No wonder we feel tired, fatigued, or drained, even on days when we haven’t physically done much.

Clarity has become a luxury because we don’t give our minds time to process anything. We're consuming information all the time, and what this does is, it dulls our intuition, and we begin to trust ourselves less. We’re left confused about what we truly want versus what we think we should want.

So yes, taking time to step offline can give the brain a much-needed break. When the noise outside quiets down, the noise within may actually be the answer we’ve been searching for.