Abundance is a paradox. Environments of abundance are bad for the median consumer but extremely good for a small number of conscious ones. Average consumers are doomed to the tyranny of instinct. Meanwhile, consumers at the top are propelled by unlimited access to nutritious food and information....

Gresham’s Law is a finance concept that states that bad money drives out good money until only bad money is left.

As a society, we can spend less energy following the news and become more informed about our society. The act of reading the news carries symbolic weight.

The modern media environment helps a small number of savvy consumers, just as it destroys the lives of millions of mindless consumers who are paralyzed by fear, anger, and misinformation. Careful consumers use the information at their fingertips to compound their wisdom while compulsive ones drow...

The Explore Tab on Twitter is the most important newspaper in the world. It’s littered with celebrity gossip and exaggerated political drama — both of which yield a wide reach but incentivize empty content.

Ideally, a world of information abundance would bring the best to the top. Using a classic Econ 101 argument, competition should benefit consumers by improving quality.

News and food consumption are near-perfect metaphors.

• Americans are overweight, not because of scarcity but because of abundance — just like the news.
• At the same time, wealthy and health-conscious Americans have never been in better physical shape.