Too Much to Process: How Information Overwhelms the Brain

You wake up. Before your feet hit the floor, you’ve scrolled past breaking news, a celebrity scandal, 42 group chat notifications, and a hundred opinions about something you didn’t even know happened. And somehow, though you haven’t “done” anything, you already feel exhausted.

That’s not a personal flaw. It’s a biological reality: your brain wasn’t built for this much information.

Modern life bombards us with data, updates, outrage, and commentary at an unprecedented rate. According to a study by the University of California, San Diego, the average American consumes around 34 gigabytes of information every day the equivalent of reading 100,000 words. Every. Single. Day.

And that’s not just news it’s the reactions to the news. The memes. The spin. The emotional demands. You’re expected to care deeply about a war, a trending controversy, an injustice, and a viral joke simultaneously. If you disengage? You risk being labeled ignorant or indifferent. But if you stay plugged in? You become overwhelmed.

Welcome to the digital age, where overchoice and overstimulation have become our new normal.

When Everything Matters, Nothing Does

There’s a psychological term for what we’re feeling: overchoice. When the brain faces too many decisions or inputs at once, it doesn’t become more productive. It shuts down. It defaults to anxiety, confusion, or apathy not because you don’t care, but because you’ve run out of emotional bandwidth.

And this constant overload is rewiring us. Dr. Caroline Leaf, a Christian neuroscientist, notes that, “Consuming bad news all day activates the brain’s stress circuits,” leading to chronic anxiety and cognitive fatigue. But there’s good news: the mind is moldable. “Intentional mental rest like prayer, silence, or Scripture meditation can help rewire those neural pathways.”

In other words, your brain is responding to what you feed it. And if the algorithm is deciding your input, then it’s also shaping your output your thoughts, your reactions, your desires.

That’s not just a psychological problem. That’s a spiritual one too.

Your Feed Is Forming You

Theologian James K.A. Smith says, “We are not just thinking things. We are desiring beings.” What we give our attention to doesn’t just inform us it forms us. Every scroll, every click, every rabbit hole of content is shaping not only what we think but what we love and long for.

We were created for depth, not volume. For focus, not fragmentation. Yet we fill every spare second with input. The podcast during the commute. The YouTube video while brushing our teeth. The TikTok to avoid a moment of boredom. Silence used to be a natural state. Now, it feels uncomfortable.

But it’s in silence where something sacred happens. In quiet, conviction can breathe. In stillness, God speaks. “Be still, and know that I am God,” the psalmist says (Psalm 46:10). Not, “Be constantly updated.”

You Can’t Carry the Weight of the World

We were never meant to hold every global crisis in our heads at once. That’s not compassion it’s collapse. A 2022 Pew Research study found that nearly 7 in 10 adults report feeling worn out by the news. The result? Numbness. Detachment. A creeping sense that nothing you do will matter anyway.

But detachment isn’t the solution. Discipleship is.

What if the goal isn’t to disengage from the world but to reengage with God and let Him filter what truly needs your heart? What if you weren’t created to know everything, have an opinion on everything, or fix everything?

Because you weren’t. That’s God’s role. Not yours.

Practical Steps Toward Peace

You don’t need to go off the grid or trade your iPhone for a flip phone. But you do need a reset. Here’s where to start:

• Check the news once a day not all day.

• Mute accounts that hijack your peace.

• Delete the app that leaves you feeling anxious or angry.

• Practice tech-free silence start with 5 minutes a day.

• Go for a walk without your headphones.

• Read Scripture before scrolling.

• Create a “sabbath hour” daily one hour where you unplug intentionally.

These aren’t escape tactics. They’re reconnection strategies. You’re not running from the world you’re stepping into the stillness where God speaks.

God Is Still in Control

If we believe God is sovereign, then we can afford to pause. We can trust that stepping back won’t make us miss out it may be the only way we truly catch what matters.

So no, you don’t need to know everything. You don’t need to react to everything. You don’t need to stay on all the time.

The Gospel is still good. God is still in control. And your soul is still capable of rest.

Maybe the most faithful thing you can do today isn’t to stay informed. Maybe it’s to stay grounded.

If this gave you peace, share it with a friend or subscribe to our newsletter for more reflections that help you slow down and listen to what really matters.