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: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 13 2016, @06:03PM
"Five Things You Notice When You Quit Online Discussions"
1) You feel better
2) You were never actually accomplishing anything by arguing online
3) Most current-events-related conversations are just people talking out of their asses (aka: mouths)
4) There are much better ways to "have discussions"
5) “Correcting the idiots” makes us feel like we’re doing something when we’re not
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Tuesday December 13 2016, @08:20PM
I'm pretty sure the majority of online-commenters use their hands for it.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 13 2016, @08:29PM
No, I actually use my ass.
Thus all the spelling errors sometimes.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 13 2016, @09:52PM
At least two levels of irony here... one for my mistake of using a verbal metaphor for typing, and second you demonstrating the futility of online arguments :D I can't edit the post now, and as a pedantic point I am simply going to ignore it instead of learn a valuable lesson ;)
(Score: 1) by Weasley on Tuesday December 13 2016, @11:12PM
Having online discussions made me realize everyone is an idiot and not worth talking to. How would I have known that if I hadn't had online discussions.