Lately, I haven’t been able to stop posing myself the question: What grants something meaning?

After thorough thought, my conclusion has been that the act of recording something, is to grant it value. To grant an ethereal thought a corporeal form is to shout at the indifferent world, “I believe this to be valuable, that this should be remembered for as long as it is given form.” Perhaps this is why we place so much importance on being recorded, why heroes make a mark on history, why rulers create enormous and elaborate tombs, and why we denote texts that have stood the test of time as holy.

Yet in this digital age every thought must be posted, every event must be video-taped, and every sight must be photographed. Every person has a megaphone, and we all shout at the top of our lungs, trying to get the attention we oh so desire, a proof of our own worth. I worry that much like in the short story On Exactitude in Science by John Luis Borges, the internet will end up like the map of the Empire. Our over enthusiasm for hoarding information will ironically lead to the information becoming impossible to parse. Amongst the cacophony of voices, it becomes impossible to hear anything.

In the same vein, I’m worried that I too will become a part of problem rather than the solution. In vast sea of information, what right does any person have to say that their thought is worth any more than the billions around them? I rarely post or comment on social media for the very same reason. Just like a drop in the bucket, or a whisper in a boisterous crowd, if the difference you make is so diluted, is there any meaning at all?

That is not to say I am any better or different than the rulers and heroes of old. Looking within myself, I too share the fear of being forgotten, my thoughts lost to the sands of time. It is human nature to have the desire to leave a mark, however insignificant. I hope that on my small soapbox here, I can breathe some life into the thoughts in my brain, beyond the ones they live in my mind. I merely wish to record them for myself, to gift myself the opportunity judge and reflect on a later date. In the process, maybe the digital litter I leave atop the landfill of the internet will contain some nugget of truth.

Writer’s Note:

These ideas have been brewing in my for a long time. I’ve had an inner conflict on which thoughts of mine are worth writing about and sharing and which aren’t. I hope that by writing this piece I could explore and pin down exactly what I’ve been wrestling with.

My goal with isn’t to dissuade any reader to post or share their thoughts but rather a gentle reminder to everyone to be thoughtful with what they record.

This piece is heavily inspired by the video essay How Can We Bear to Throw Anything Away? by Jacob Geller. In it, he explores various thoughts on the value of our information and data. If any of the ideas interests you, I implore you to watch it, he explores and combines various mediums and thoughts in a way that I only wish I could.

I would also like to direct your attention to a different reason to fear our history being lost, one that Rich Harris, the creator of Svelte, eloquently outlines in this talk.