This story might be helpful to those tearing their hair out about the news lately:
I grew up believing that following the news makes you a better citizen. Eight years after having quit, that idea now seems ridiculous—that consuming a particularly unimaginative information product on a daily basis somehow makes you thoughtful and informed in a way that benefits society.
But I still encounter people who balk at the possibility of a smart, engaged adult quitting the daily news.
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A few things you might notice, if you take a break:1) You feel better
A common symptom of quitting the news is an improvement in mood. News junkies will say it's because you've stuck your head in the sand.
But that assumes the news is the equivalent of having your head out in the fresh, clear air. They don't realize that what you can glean about the world from the news isn't even close to a representative sample of what is happening in the world.
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2) You were never actually accomplishing anything by watching the newsIf you ask someone what they accomplish by watching the news, you'll hear vague notions like, "It's our civic duty to stay informed!" or "I need to know what's going on in the world," or "We can't just ignore these issues," none of which answer the question.
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A month after you've quit the news, it's hard to name anything useful that's been lost. It becomes clear that those years of news-watching amounted to virtually nothing in terms of improvement to your quality of life, lasting knowledge, or your ability to help others. And that's to say nothing of the opportunity cost. Imagine if you spent that time learning a language, or reading books and essays about some of the issues they mention on the news.
Read on for the rest of the list.
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Tuesday December 13 2016, @06:01PM
A few years ago I very nearly became a shut-in, in large part due to mainstream news. Since then I've cut away almost everything that isn't tech, science or engineering (soylent and theconversation are my most "mainstream news" these days). In oart I boticed it freed up a lot of time, in part it mafe me calmer but the best thing is that almost everything about sports, celebrities, social networking and such are mainly something odd on the horizon..
Also - got me to the point where I started to participate in open source projects, considering reading up on my gaps in education and maybe moving away from cities (already drawn and calculated the house I want to build).
Quite frankly I can't see a single good point with the non-in-depth parts of mainstream news (also, not caring about the chrome but rather the nitty gritty will make you really cynical about the world)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 13 2016, @06:41PM
Thanks for theconversation, didn't know about that site. I'm glad you didn't go full shut-in, but I recommend the hermit life. You can socialize when you want and ignore the world when you want.
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Tuesday December 13 2016, @09:08PM
I only meet people 1-4 times every fortnight. Normally when going out to buy food, meet a very close driens or when something at work can't be telecommuted :}
Btw, theconversation, do fiddle around with regions - the US and the UK frontpages are very different
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 13 2016, @06:42PM
by Aiwendil (531)
A few years ago I very nearly became a shut-in
To be fair, a period of introspection every few centuries is to be expected from a pseudo-Egyptian deity.
*googles* Oh. No, that was Aiwass; this is some Tolkien thing.