Specifically, I'm giving up watching YouTube videos and looking at various news feeds (e.g. news.bbc.co.uk). Why?
B e c a u s e t h e y 'r e
b o r i n g.
b o r i n g.
I realised that my life is getting stale. These feeds are part of that staleness.
My daily habit is to check the News and Youtube for the latest. I realised that there's not much interesting out there. There are just lots of people trying to make boring stuff interesting. This irritates me. I switched off.
I saw an excellent documentary on the Vietnam War recently. I see today's news in that context.
The Vietnam War
(I also consider that I don't have much power to influence these events: so why should I get worked up about them? It's a sign that I need to get a life).
I can't remember any significant news in the UK since the Brexit referendum in 2016. 'News' is defined as: "newly received or noteworthy information". Could this be "The End of News?" That is, will these reports even register a blip in the timeline of human history?
"Lots of people trying to make boring stuff interesting" :
(click to enlarge)
Crowds of people standing on a platform. Is that what we're defining as 'chaos'? Oxford definition: "complete disorder and confusion". Try the evacuation of people from Saigon at the end of the war. That's more like chaos for me.
"Lots of people trying to make boring stuff interesting" :
(click to enlarge)
Can I ask a favour? When you see something like the above, PLEASE don't click it! It's most likely a non-story.
(click to enlarge)
This is another type of non-story. Look out for keywords such as 'could' or 'might mean'. It's a journalist making up predictions about the future (i.e. speculation). Yes it could happen, but it could just as likely NOT HAPPEN AT ALL, and so what was the point?
(Update Feb 2020: what was the outcome of that story?)
But we never keep track of the accuracy of these predictions, so they get away with it again & again.
Play a game
Next time you catch the news, see if you can spot:
A) Speculation
(e.g. "could", "might", "implication") - 1 pt
B) Exaggeration
(e.g. "political infighting" instead of "disagreement") - 3 pts
Why do journalists go to these lengths to get us to click? Why use words like 'chaos' instead of 'inconvenience'? Because there's not too much interesting these days.
No. It became clearer to me, thinking about YouTube Vloggers: they have subscribers (equals money) and need to keep producing content.
They can't say, "today I have nothing to tell you". If there's not much to say, they have to make something up. It's similar with the news media. Speculation and exaggeration go a long way in filling up pages.
Further, content producers know that negative news attracts views, because of our fear of threat and loss. BUT I know that it's cumulatively harmful to my mental wellbeing, so I turn away. Others aren't so aware.
And this is serious. Ask yourself: "By what means do most of us find out what's going on in the world?" Answer: the News Media. What effect does it have on society if reports are negative, speculative or exaggerated?
Maybe we do actually have some power here.
Stop clicking.
See more in my book: "Things You Shouldn't Say Out Loud".
Also published: "Murder Your Mortgage in 7 Years".
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