Weapons of Mass D**********
🚨BREAKING: WMDs have been discovered in every corner of the globe.
And I’m not referring to those weapons we supposedly fought a two decade long war over.
Nope. These are worse. They have the power to dismantle society as we know it. In fact, they already have.
What am I talking about?
Weapons of Mass Distraction.
They’ve taken various forms over the years. From newspapers to radio to TV to yes, even TikTok. I found this out when those undeniable voices started blasting out of my fiancé’s iPhone speakers (news anchors on social media? Come on).
But their mission remains the same.
It’s not the platforms themselves that are the problem. Although we give them root access to our brains.
It’s what they claim to be serving us.
Public enemy #1 is
The news.
Even typing those two words makes my stomach queasy🤢.
The news has harnessed the seduction of pessimism wonderfully.
Not a moment goes by where we can’t flip to Fox, CNN or Twitter to be bombarded by some sort of BREAKING NEWS. When did all news become breaking? Did the world suddenly become littered with earth shattering events that we HAD to know about in real time?
Or….
Did the news realize that simply adding the word “breaking” before whatever they chose to talk about would automatically attract more eyeballs? AKA more dollars in their big fat pockets💰.
I’ll let you decide.
Breaking news tastes delicious. So we eat a lot of it.
So I’ve got a serving of my own breaking news to feed you.
99.997% of it has zero effect on us. And the 0.003% that does will find a way to reach you. Without the help of your friendly local news anchor. Who might not be quite as friendly as we think.
The greatest lie of our time
Is thinking we need to consume all the breaking news from around the world to be an “informed” citizen. I disagree with every cell in my body.
In fact, the more news we consume the less informed we become.
Our minds aren’t built to consume, comprehend, and most importantly, benefit from copious amounts of breaking news pouring into our ears.
Go back just a few generations and our great-great-great grandparents may have stumbled upon one or two breaking news stories per year. Fast forward to today and we receive dozens per minute.
The news conglomerates are incentivized to convince us that all news is breaking news. And they spend billions to make sure of it.
But I can’t blame them. I blame us.
Why? Because we fall for it.
Personally, I believe just about anyone who talks with conviction (don’t be surprised if you find me in a cult one day). So I can’t consume news in moderation. All those talking heads scream with big conviction energy so I’d be guzzling the kool-aid in no time🧃.
What’s the alternative?
The only thing that works for me is complete abstinence. I must resist any headline with the word “breaking” in it or else I’m screwed.
So I’ve adopted a news-less life. Which could be useful to you too.
A news-less life is exactly what it sounds like. With the added benefit of not living in a constant state of fear that the world is about to end. Some might call that naïve. And perhaps it is. But it’s useful to me.
I’ve gained a sense of peace that was impossible when trying to keep up with what papa Fox and momma CNN promised I needed to know.
Inflation, recession and war oh my!
I have zero control over any of these. Neither do you. They are going to happen whether or not we tune in.
I’d much rather spend my limited time and attention on what I can control. My health, career, relationships, etc. Ya know, the timeless stuff. I’ll leave the timely stuff to the talking heads.
The next time you come into contact with one of these big-conviction-energy-talking-heads spewing breaking news at you, ask yourself: Will this matter in a year? A decade? A century?
To say the deck is stacked against us is being charitable. But the battle to claim back our attention is worth fighting.
So I’m taking a stand against the weapons of mass distraction that will ultimately lead to mass destruction.
Join me on the news-less path.
PS - People will think you’re crazy when you stop caring about the news. But you and I will know we are crazy for other reasons.
Likes and comments are below.
"In fact, the more news we consume the less informed we become." Another Arman gem! It strikes me that we can't escape the news, but we can shift our attention from the external news you highlight here to a frame of self-awareness, which is a form of inner news.