No news is good news
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Knowing everything about the last twenty-four hours but little of the last 240 years is dangerous. Hot take: The news is overrated.
They say no news is good news. This has been very true for me in recent years. I grew up watching news on TV and reading the paper every day. But today I largely ignore the news, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
At first I stopped watching the news. Then I stopped reading the paper. I starting going to news websites for an even fresher fix. Who wants to read a printout of yesterday’s news anyway? Eventually I even stopped visiting those sites.
My growing weariness of politics and discovery of fascinating people on Twitter certainly played a part. But I think mostly I’ve realized it isn’t nearly as important to follow the news as people say it is. These days I skip the newspapers and pick up a book or listen to a podcast instead.
It’s about what you consider most worthy of your focus. Some have a 'moral' rule that being a good citizen means paying attention to everything. That may have been fine prior to information overload. But paying attention to everything these days really means focusing on nothing.
People today seem to know everything about the last twenty-four hours but very little of the last 24 years. Never mind the last few centuries. So lately I’ve looked more towards science, debate and literature than the latest hot topic. History might not repeat exactly but it does rhyme.