Stop,
I think you are correct when it comes to performance. Every bowler at one time or another sits there and second guesses themselves and their choices. For a lot of bowlers, if they get out of their head and let their swing and release go and stop thinking about it, they get better results. But I don't think it is because of the information available. This has been happening for ages, it's the human in all of us causing this. Our brains are very complex machines and sometimes, we over complicate something that should be simple. In the past it might have been just should I be using resin or urethane, urethane or rubber, rubber or plastic, etc.
I also don't see this as the reason we are losing members. I, personally, think the reasons are multiple: There are way more things competing for time and money with today's youth. Soccer has taken off in the US, the old staples of football, baseball, etc. The declining economy makes every dollar more valuable and the decisions on how to spend it more complex. I think the proliferation of high scores with the easing of THS rules also contributed to this. It's not special to bowl a 300 anymore, or an 800 series. Scores have gone through the roof and these have become commonplace. If doing exceedingly well doesn't feel special, why do it. People still become excited to score a goal in soccer, to hit a homerun in baseball (or softball), or to score a TD in football. It still feels special. If every football game was 140 - 133, or every baseball game was 30-27, with everyone scoring TD's hitting HR's, then we might see a decline in those sports as well. I also think another reason is the stigma attached to bowling....the fat, beer drinking bowlers. Do to the fact that America as a whole is overweight, myself included, there is push to try to help our youth stay active. I think parents are pushing kids to sports that include more of a workout, like soccer, and away from bowling. If they want their kids to be healthier, then they have to run and play and do sports that include that. Again these are JMHO's, yours may differ.