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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 TheGratefulNet on Wednesday December 14 2016, @03:52AM
not only have I quit watching/reading mainstream media, I stopped with tv as a whole, too.
the commercials lower your IQ. I could feel it TRYING to make me dumber.
you really notice how far things have gone when you detach for a long time, then you travel, stay in a hotel, are bored and turn on the glass teat to see what its currently like. blech! turn that thing right off! and when you do, you feel a lot better.
entertainment has also taken a few steps downward. movies used to really interest me. now, its hard to find anything that I am willing to sit thru and watch.
perhaps I'm just getting older and sick of the same old shit. but I know I'm a lot better off by not polluting myself with mainstream media 'products'. not to mention how much money I save by not having to keep paying for cable/satelling/movie channels or papers.
if its worth knowing about in terms of current events, I find out about it via discussion forums. there (and here) we find all sides and we can actively take PART in the discussion. active vs passive. these days, passive is just too boring for me.
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Wednesday December 14 2016, @03:46PM
you really notice how far things have gone when you detach for a long time, then you travel, stay in a hotel, are bored and turn on the glass teat to see what its currently like. blech! turn that thing right off! and when you do, you feel a lot better.
Goodness yes!! I was in a hotel this weekend actually and had that experience. To show how out of touch I am I still don't understand the new TV channels that have decimal points in them. There was nothing I wanted to see. Fortunately I travel with a laptop with entertainment my family likes pre-loaded on it before the trip. I forgot to bring an HDMI cable, but a quick trip to Wal-Mart and we were hooked up and happy. No commercials. No drek that was not at least of our own choosing.
During the weekend I noticed that "Mary Poppins" was trending on twitter and wondered why. It turned out it was playing on a network station. I seriously don't get how that can have an impact on anything - who is still watching channels, and why on earth do they put up with it? If I wanted to watch Mary Poppins (not a bad movie) I'd get ahold of it and watch it, no commercials, when I wanted.
if its worth knowing about in terms of current events, I find out about it via discussion forums. there (and here) we find all sides and we can actively take PART in the discussion. active vs passive. these days, passive is just too boring for me.
Exactly. I want to talk to other human beings. It's actually more social rather than less, despite all the complaints Chicken Little is making about us spending time online.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings