[0xdeadb00f]

I get it, I really do. Negativity is shit.

The world is a messed up place. Sure, we shouldn't be bombarded by this fact day in and day out, but I personally think it's a good thing to remind yourself now and then how fucked up the world we live in can be - to maintain a sort of tether to the "reality" of the world's current messed up situation; it puts a lot into perspective.

Any thoughts? Am I wrong for thinking this way? (P.s. I have not yet read the OP's article)

[wmeredith]

The key part of your statement is “now and then”. Reading the news once a week to stay up on current events and be a good citizen is wise. I don’t need to check in on the shittiest parts of our society every few hours throughout the day.

[nicky0]

More important to maintain a tether to the immediate physical world around you, than to a notion of being "informed" about far-off events.

[blablabla123]

I agree with you. Actually I watch news regularly since my childhood and I've also heard the sentence "I don't want to see this (people suffering), this is terrible" Basically this would be actively looking away.

The world is indeed a pretty messed up place and it's sad we need Corona to be reminded of a lot of long-standing issues as they affect also other groups now:

- lack of universal health insurance/insufficient social support systems

- lack of pandemic plans

- precarious living conditions are more prevalent than represented by social/news media

Actually very few news outlets even attempt to give global coverage, BBC is the only one I know of that somehow gets close to this.

Still, I try to consume news more responsibly. I stopped using Google News and instead subscribed to a handful of online papers/magazines that produce quality content.

[YinglingLight]

>Actually very few news outlets even attempt to give global coverage, BBC is the only one I know of that somehow gets close to this.

Far fewer still, are news outlets covering child sex trafficking. But hey, "I don't want to see this, this is terrible, let's call it a conspiracy and move on".

[everdrive]

I think social media might just be the wrong format for it. Something non-addictive, such as a book, or a long-form news article would be a much better way to know the evils of the world.

[TheCapeGreek]

Definitely, one does still have to be aware of how bad things can get. The way I see it, that sort of information can filter through no matter what you do. Instead of compltely shutting out however, what I've read some say in regards to this digital minimalism is to keep just one or two news sources. For some that's HN, or a custom subreddit collection, or just opening your local news site once a day/week/whatever.

[BTCOG]

I think the glaring issue these days of being constantly connected, is simply balance. I notice that many who are getting too anxious/stressed/nervous/scared are doing way too much of just reading news and doom, and doing almost absolutely no other healthy activities of healthy family meals, exercise, walking, etc. In all things, find balance.

[koheripbal]

Is the world really worse than ever?

[buzzert]

No. But it certainly generates clicks, doesn’t it.

[scruple]

<rant>

The world has it's priorities completely fucking backwards, is the problem. We've got a million dead every year in Africa because of AIDS. It's a completely preventable problem. No one seems to give a shit. Over 100k dead from covid-19 in a few shorts months. But, this weekend, I was bombarded with "news" about Trader Joe's "racist packaging." What the fuck?

Maybe I'm cynical but this most of the news that I come across lately looks like standard election cycle bullshit to me.

</rant>

[Consultant32452]

One great strategy is subscribing to a weekly or monthly newspaper/magazine. If it's not important enough to make it into the weekly news, it's not that important.