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Comment by sumul | Hacker News Reader

I endorse getting away from as much news as possible. I made that choice after the 2016 US elections, and it has been a big, sustained improvement in my quality of life. I've found that if something is important, I'll hear about it from friends, family, or co-workers. Hearing about important things from people I trust is way better than hearing about them from news outlets trying their hardest to keep me hooked. Sometimes I get the bewildered, mouth-agape reaction of "you haven't heard of this???" but it took a surprisingly short amount of time to feel no embarrassment about being out of the loop and simply responding with, "nope! please tell me all about it."

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And, it is amazing just how much you do not miss it. Once the stream of news is gone - you wonder why you ever fell into it in the first place.

I am in the same boat with other people bringing the important news. Some times it might actually be relevant.

News nowadays reminds me of the Serenity's prayer.

Grant to us the serenity of mind to accept that which cannot be changed; courage to change that which can be changed, and wisdom to know the one from the other.

Most things in the news, we cannot change.

A friend of mine is very stressed about the current geopolitical situation, and follows the latest developments every few hours. I'm roughly aware of it. Our impact on the situation is exactly the same.

From the draft: I followed 20 years of news about Afghanistan, and all I got out of it was talking points. No facts, no nuance, just pre-chewed talking points from people one lesson ahead of the class. I recently went on a deep dive about Afghanistan, and boy was I misinformed.

Remember the early days of covid? How much of the information was accurate and useful? How much of it was just speculation or filler content? Would you be in a different place if you just let the most important information surface to you?

I did the same and share your conclusions. I have family members who literally get panic attacks over news of events they cannot control— and they keep right on consuming it.

Someone once said that if you want to kick the newspaper habit, just read last month’s newspapers. You’ll quickly realize how useless and / or misinformed the content is.

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