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Comment by jjice | Hacker News Reader

Ignorance can be bliss. Didn't change my life, but has definitely helped me in a lot of cases, especially recent times. Generally speaking, I can't affect what is currently happening in the news, despite how upsetting it might be, and it won't even affect me in a lot of cases. I try to consume little information for things I don't care about or will have a negative effect on me as a way to spare myself from anxiety.

I've gotten a lot of shit for this in the past from people saying "you just don't stay informed?" or "it's your civic duty to know what's happening in the world!". If information is really important for me to know, I'll see it. If it doesn't end up on one of the few media sources I consume, it probably won't affect me. I got this idea from MMM [1], which was inspired by The Four Hour Work Week.

[1] https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/10/01/the-low-informati...

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Erik Hagerman is on a four year news blackout:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/10/style/the-man-who-knew-to...

Article date: March 10, 2018

He swore that he would avoid learning about anything that happened to America after Nov. 8, 2016.

...

Mr. Hagerman begins every day with a 30-minute drive to Athens, the closest city of note, to get a cup of coffee — a triple-shot latte with whole milk. He goes early, before most customers have settled into the oversize chairs to scroll through their phones.

Life finds a way I guess.

can't ya just make a triple-shot latte at home

I've taken a slightly similar approach:

If the information won't affect my behavior/actions, I choose not to invest time into it.

This allows for me peruse headlines to be aware of what's happening (and to consider looking further into something), but keeps me uninvested enough to avoid becoming emotionally consumed by things I won't be taking some action toward/against.

I would argue that it should only be done if you know it makes you significantly more unhappy. If everyone would abstain from the news, no one would be held responsible for anything. While I agree that most of the news are not for me, the small percentage that alarms me and makes me go research and talk about issues is worth it. I can never know what might be concerning to me outside of my interest bubble.

Its some sort of Western nonsense, that we're all Kings and must keep up on politics, current events etc. Something about being right, or being the smartest person in the room, or something.

So much satisfaction from living your life, right where you are. Trust that it all won't come crashing down without your input, and go back to your garden (or whatever you cherish).

Definitely leave facebook memes behind, forever.

Edit: Just saw this link on here and this is great blog post about just this.

http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/hatethenews

And this: https://www.raptitude.com/2016/12/five-things-you-notice-whe...

I think a better way to put this is - don't worry about things you can't change. It's my prime directive in life.

A big one thing you can't change is "the past". People fret about what could have been different or opportunities they missed, or their childhood being different. But you can't do anything about it. You can learn from it and use that going forward, but you can't wish it was different.

I feel a bit conflicted on this idea as I too believe that some things do not require attention. However, I always try to maintain a balance and try to read information if it feels imperative even when I might not be necessarily interested. This topic looks very similar to one's Circle of Competencies.

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