Signs of the Times (part 6) - Fear of Missing Out

everystockphoto.com/Social Media Patterns

First World Problems?

May these be one of the Signs of the Times?

What are some of these big First World Problems?  And in this world of pain, doom, and strife, they seem rather trivial.  Here are a few of them, which you can tweet - for grins: First World Problems - Funny First World Problem Meme Images

Along with these First World Problem comes another phobia - much of it rooted in social media and the deluge of information coming at us from the ubiquitous internet:

FOMO - Fear of Missing Out

It's an understatement to say there is a lot of information out there.  How do we begin to filter what is important?  Some of this was addressed in a previous blog:   Proverbs (part 1) - Information vs. Wisdom .  And in the cyberspace, we did make many searches, so we would not miss out, such as is summarized here:  Infographic: What You Searched Google For 2014 | Digital Buzz Blog

But the video clip below explains this new First World Problem fear - FOMO - with its philosophical spin:

(reference:  http://youtu.be/KsSmFZNrpLc )

And King Solomon expressed some of this FOMO - the longing in the human spirit for something more, that there is an intuition that there is something greater.  He infers that the Creator made us this way:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. 

He has also set eternity in the human heart; 

yet no one can fathom what God has done
from beginning to end.

 Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV)

But to not to commit?  Really?  Not make a choice?  Is that not a choice?  Actually, there is an old saying about this phobia (from James, the Just, the half-brother of Jesus):

A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

James 1:8 (KJV)

Perhaps, this restlessness, wanting it all, but not committing, refusing to choose, being double minded, unstable, is one of the

Signs of the Times? 

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Previous posts in this series:

Signs of the Times (part 1) - Camping in the Parks (2012)

Signs of the Times (part 2) - Layaway (2012)

Signs of the Times (part 3) - Layoffs (2013)

Signs of the Times (part 4) - Doomsday Preppers  (2013)

Signs of the Times (part 5) - Staycations (2013)

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Photo from:  everystockphoto.com/Social Media Patterns

Proverbs (part 1) - Information vs. Wisdom

Wikipedia/Internet map

If you are reading this blog post, you are on the Internet, my friend.  Above is a partial map of the Internet based on the January 15, 2005 data (according to the description of the image source).  And eight years later, I imagine this map looks even more hairy and tangled!

There is a lot of information out there.  

Go to google.com and google the keyword - information.  Try it here - results for information

When I did it (September 19, 2013), I came up with 6,380,000,000 hits!  That's almost as much as one hit per person on this planet, which is over 7 billion.  [reference: World Population Clock: 7 Billion People (2013) - Worldometers]

And information is growing exponentially as shown in this video clip below (which is 3 years old and already out-dated):  (reference:  http://youtu.be/yrRn7rSif2Q)

How do we manage with so much information thrown at us - ever growing, ever changing?

It takes some wisdom.

So let's go back to google.com and google the keyword - wisdom. Try it - results for wisdom

When I did it (September 19, 2013), I came up with 146,000,000 hits.  That's a little less than one hit for half the population of the United States, about 316 million.  [reference:  Population Clock]

Roughly that is a ratio of information / wisdom of 44 to 1.

Wisdom is definitely lacking here - if we only go by these raw statistics.

But wisdom is calling ...

Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,
she raises her voice in the public square;
on top of the wall she cries out,
at the city gate she makes her speech:
Proverbs 1:20, 21 (NIV)

For this reason, I began a new series on *Proverbs * - a source of wisdom.

Proverbs has 31 chapters and is one book of 66 books (in the Protestant Bible).  But what it lacks in volume, it packs quite a punch in quality.

For starters, here are some proverbs on Wisdom, in this clip:  (reference: http://youtu.be/wPfKI2HOfgc)

And the entire Book of Proverbs is read here - http://youtu.be/Z9ku-DB8nxw
(It's over 90 minutes when read, but a twinkle of an eye when considering all the information out there!)

And here is an appropriate proverb on wisdom to kick off this series ... on Proverbs:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
    and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Proverbs 9:10  (NIV)


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Recent posts on similar topics:

Timeless Truths (part 3) - Hakuna Matata - No Worries? (2013)

Biblia Files (part 1) - Thru the Bible (2013)

Biblia Files (part 2) - What is the Bible Basically About? (2013)

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Photo from:  Wikipedia -  Internet map