Why you should stop watching and read the news

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

When our family decided to stop watching TV, one of the main arguments in defense of the box was the news. How do we know what's going on in the country? The answer was found quickly: the news that we should know will be told to us anyway!

Then there was the first long trip for 2 months, and I realized that nothing is more annoying than political news from my homeland. Especially the moment that everyone is outraged, they write entire essays on this topic, but no one does anything. As a result, you go to a social network to find out how your friends are doing, and a bucket of slop is poured on you. And this flow is practically not interrupted.

And it would be fine if it was only political news! After all, the news is selected - to make it louder and more scandalous! Good news is rarely heard for long. But the bad ones have a high rating! And if you add here the literary talent of journalists, you can make a disaster out of so-so news - and immediately the rating rises!

You get upset, your mood gets worse, your productivity and life satisfaction drop. But everything else remains in place.

So I just couldn't get past the Guardian article on why news is so bad. It makes us think again about what information we receive, and start filtering it with even greater zeal.

As I noted above, news can ruin not only your mood, but also your health. Therefore, you should be very careful about what exactly and in which sources you read.

News is misleading

For example, you read the news that the bridge collapsed, on which the car was just passing. What will be the focus of attention? Naturally, by car (or cars, if there were a lot of them), who the driver was, where he was going, whether he managed to survive. After all, people are very emotional creatures, they will worry, groan, gasp and think about this person's family.

But what did you really need to focus on? Of course, on the bridge itself. On its construction characteristics. Why did it collapse? Maybe because the local authorities did not pay due attention to the condition of the bridge? Didn't you repair it on time, violated the operating rules? If so, then for this you can go to jail.

The news is taking us down the wrong route. Overrated news of terrorist attacks, bank crashes and plane crashes. And they are too underestimated about financial responsibility, the impact of stress on our bodies and ordinary people who do important work. Unfortunately, we cannot muffle this disturbing voice in our head, so the only option not to spoil our nerves is to reduce the absorption of this information. Can't you in the modern world refuse to fly on airplanes, drive a car or use the services of banks?

Most news items do not contain important information

Remember, from what news of the last year you learned something really useful for yourself? Something that helped you solve an important problem or make the right decision about your life, your business, or your career? Do you remember? If yes, then hardly a lot, and during the day we read a lot of news. Conclusion: most of them do not carry important information for you.

But we are used to the news. They give us a sense of a certain security and awareness, a sense of advantage (I know, but you do not!). And some people even start to feel a certain uneasiness, being cut off from the news stream for several days.

In fact, the less news you consume, the more specific you are compared to others, because you need to filter much less information, and the important information will reach you anyway.

The news can't really explain anything to you

News is just small bubbles that burst on the surface of the vast ocean world. The news that reaches the press and which journalists later bring to you is just a reflection of deeper processes. They do not reveal the essence, because they simply cannot. And the more you focus on all these bubbles, the more cloudy you see the big picture of the world. The most important thing eludes you. Because you need to stop looking at the bubbles on the surface and see what exactly is causing them?

News harms the body

The news is constantly calling out to your limbic system. Disaster news and alarming messages stimulate the production of the stress hormone (cortisol), and this will not lead to anything good. Fear, depression, nervousness, digestive problems, and exposure to infections are too high a price to pay for being aware of everything, right?

News increases the likelihood of cognitive errors

The news feed is the mother of cognitive errors. According to Warren Buffett (Warren Buffett), the person tries to interpret all new information so that it confirms the conclusions already made. And the news exacerbates this deficiency. We become overconfident, underestimate risks, and miss good opportunities. Our brains crave stories that have hidden meaning, even if they are not really true. We listen to the news and present them in a way that is more convenient for us, we find all visible and invisible evidence of our innocence. In general, we turn everything upside down, if only it coincides with the picture that we drew ourselves.

News is bad for memory

Thinking requires concentration. Concentration takes time. The news is structured to constantly distract us. They are like viruses that steal your attention for their own needs. But there are worse things: news is not very good for our memory.

There are two types of memory. Long-term power is almost limitless. But short-term, working memory can not accommodate everything. In order for the information to be remembered for a long time, it must be understood, digested, and this is impossible without proper concentration of attention. The abundance of news prevents us from focusing on one thing. The situation is even worse with online news, as almost every article is crammed with links. We start jumping on them and somewhere on the 10th we forget about where, in fact, it all began and what we are doing here at all.

News is like drugs in its effect

We love development stories, we love to find out how it ended. And this need is difficult to ignore. But we have hundreds of storylines in our heads …

Previously, it was believed that in adulthood, neurons do not form new connections. Now scientists have found out that this is not so. The more news we consume, the more we train the neural connections responsible for multitasking and fluent consumption of information, forgetting about those responsible for concentration and thoughtful consumption. The more news, the less our ability to focus on one thing. And even avid book lovers, after getting on the news needle, are unable to read more than 4–5 pages. They just get tired. And this is not because they have grown older, but because the structure of their brain has changed.

News is wasting time

You read or watch the news on TV for 15 minutes at breakfast. Then there's the lunchtime news. And we must not forget about the evening reports. And if you take into account the time that you spend during the working day in order to read the news that accidentally caught your eye in the social network feed, you get a pretty impressive chunk of time.

News makes us passive

Most of the news is stunning stories of events that we are unable to influence. They grind us until we get used to the idea of the fatality of everything that happens to us and the world around us and begin to take it all for granted. There is such a term "", which characterizes the reluctance of a person or animal to change a hostile environment, even if there is such a possibility. Through the habit of watching the news, we accustom ourselves to this state.

News kills creativity

News depresses us, makes us helpless, and takes away the main resources of our memory. What kind of creativity can we talk about ?!

It is impossible to completely abandon the news: after all, we live in a not very calm world and I would like to know when the time comes to be saved. Do you want to keep abreast of events? Read not news, but serious analytical articles, listen to the right podcasts and talk to smart people who don't care about bubbles on the surface - they are interested in what is hidden in the depths.