News good or bad?

[New World Explorer]

Recently I got to the stage that I cannot stomach news anymore.

This in turn, prompted me to google the web, in order to find out articles discussing effect of news on brains. 

 

Some of the findings: (I am neutral regarding those findings) 

 

What's your view of those findings/opinion presented below? 

 

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/apr/12/news-is-bad-rolf-dobelli

News kills creativity. Finally, things we already know limit our creativity. This is one reason that mathematicians, novelists, composers and entrepreneurs often produce their most creative works at a young age. Their brains enjoy a wide, uninhabited space that emboldens them to come up with and pursue novel ideas. I don't know a single truly creative mind who is a news junkie – not a writer, not a composer, mathematician, physician, scientist, musician, designer, architect or painter. On the other hand, I know a bunch of viciously uncreative minds who consume news like drugs. If you want to come up with old solutions, read news. If you are looking for new solutions, don't.

 

News is toxic to your body. It constantly triggers the limbic system. Panicky stories spur the release of cascades of glucocorticoid (cortisol). This deregulates your immune system and inhibits the release of growth hormones. In other words, your body finds itself in a state of chronic stress. High glucocorticoid levels cause impaired digestion, lack of growth (cell, hair, bone), nervousness and susceptibility to infections. The other potential side-effects include fear, aggression, tunnel-vision and desensitisation.

 

News works like a drug. As stories develop, we want to know how they continue. With hundreds of arbitrary storylines in our heads, this craving is increasingly compelling and hard to ignore. Scientists used to think that the dense connections formed among the 100 billion neurons inside our skulls were largely fixed by the time we reached adulthood. Today we know that this is not the case. Nerve cells routinely break old connections and form new ones. The more news we consume, the more we exercise the neural circuits devoted to skimming and multitasking while ignoring those used for reading deeply and thinking with profound focus. Most news consumers – even if they used to be avid book readers – have lost the ability to absorb lengthy articles or books. After four, five pages they get tired, their concentration vanishes, they become restless. It's not because they got older or their schedules became more onerous. It's because the physical structure of their brains has changed.

 

 

News wastes time. If you read the newspaper for 15 minutes each morning, then check the news for 15 minutes during lunch and 15 minutes before you go to bed, then add five minutes here and there when you're at work, then count distraction and refocusing time, you will lose at least half a day every week. Information is no longer a scarce commodity. But attention is. You are not that irresponsible with your money, reputation or health. Why give away your mind?

 

News makes us passive. News stories are overwhelmingly about things you cannot influence. The daily repetition of news about things we can't act upon makes us passive. It grinds us down until we adopt a worldview that is pessimistic, desensitised, sarcastic and fatalistic. The scientific term is "learned helplessness". It's a bit of a stretch, but I would not be surprised if news consumption, at least partially contributes to the widespread disease of depression.

 

[Qapla]

This is all news to me!

 

[Lee49]

I read the news every day, morning, noon and night, no affect on me!

[Beggar for the Spirit]

Hi Greg, 

Interesting research about the news. I think the key to understanding these findings is that they seem to do with "extremes". Yes, if a person is reading the newspaper in the morning, watching the news at lunch, and then again in the evening, and then seeing news from the internet at night, then of course the news may feel like a drug or be toxic to this person. And yes the constant repetition of reading/watching news can make any person feel depressed, pessimistic, even fatalistic. While reading/watching the news may not promote creative thinking, I don't think it "kills" it. I disagree with how the article said that they view the news as having "old solutions" therefore this kills creativity. The news does not really provide many solutions, not old solutions or new ones, the news is normally just reporting current events, sometimes with bias, sometimes with facts.

 

As for me, I don't read/watch too much news, but I want to know the headlines and important situations that are occurring in the world. So when I read/watch news about the fires in Australia or in California or earthquakes or about the Corona virus, it does help me to think about the trials and sufferings of others and helps me to cultivate empathy for others. This helps me not to be so self-focused or self-centered. So the news can have some benefits if watched in balance. But in the extreme, yes, the news can have some negative effects. So what is my most favorite news?

The "Good News". 

Edited February 19, 2020 by Beggar for the Spirit

[carlos]

I agree with Neil. News can have those effects if you are obsessed with them. But I think it's a good thing to be informed of what happens around you.

 

I use to start my workday reading the news. I'm noticing that the news lately talk much less about events and facts and a lot more about politics, so I try to avoid those reports about politics that really don't contribute anything. Google learns quickly your interests and only shows you news you are interested in. I like to read news about world events, science, technology as well as articles about history. I like to read news about animals too but avoid those about terrible things done to them.

 

I think being aware of the news helps you understand people around you better and equips you to start discussions about events that concern them. I have read some brothers and especially sisters say that they can't stomach to read the news or that they feel very depressed if they read them, and I understand that, but they don't affect me that way. Maybe I'm more insensitive.