[archibaldJ]

In my humble opinion it all boils down to cost, and I don't mean monetary cost. I mean real cost. The cost of attention from a computational perspective.

What you described traces its roots in sensationalism, which is useful to catch people's attention (or so the piece becomes memorable for them).

As a soceity, we are always seeking to lower the cost of obtaining stimuli and qualia[1]. Combining this with the fact that people's lives become ever more complex, the cost of attention increases. Among the masses, short-attention span is now the norm.

Therefore it is important to practise mindfulness. And this is why I believe psychedelics and meditation are fundemental for us to transition into a more sensible soceity.

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28020031