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When I was a kid, I used to spend weekends with my grandparents. Every night at six thirty or so, they would watch the news. It made an impression on my child's mind. The news was always bad, with maybe a bit of good news toward the end of the show so the viewer didn't off themselves (that would prevent them from tuning in tomorrow!).
I had a lot of questions about the things I saw on the news, as I was exquisitely tuned to potential threats to my life and well being. I was duly educated about pollution, nuclear war, mutually assured destruction, and various actual and potential natural disasters. Hoo-wee! Pretty heavy stuff for a six year old. I especially didn't understand war. I couldn't figure out why people would do that to other people. I still struggle with that one, actually.
As a young adult, I kept up the habit. Eventually I dumped my TV, but with the internet, you don't need a TV. All those delightful concerns can be accessed 24/7 on your smartphone. I don't typically watch video content because it's slow paced and I read faster than I can listen to someone talk, but I am still a news junkie, and its a bad habit.
Even here, where I'm practicing a craft that I've always wanted to take up, I still can't escape the news. I just contribute a tiny little trickle to the great river of information and analysis. Granted, given the lunacy in the world right now, it's pretty hard to step away from it. But doesn't every addict have their excuse for why they need their next fix? My lady friend, who is wiser than I, tells me to just focus on other things. She's right, but in another sense I feel like that would be the same as trying to settle in to paint a picture, say, while there's a hungry tiger in the room.
That's probably the point of the whole enterprise. We are hardwired to learn about and assess potential threats in our environment. When we feel threatened (and regardless of political affiliation, many of us feel threatened right now), we feel compelled to investigate the threat. Some of us are just more obsessive about it than others. Add in advertising and you have a recipe for success.
It's just a bunch of cacomagic. I know this, but I still splash around in the sewers.
I had a lot of questions about the things I saw on the news, as I was exquisitely tuned to potential threats to my life and well being. I was duly educated about pollution, nuclear war, mutually assured destruction, and various actual and potential natural disasters. Hoo-wee! Pretty heavy stuff for a six year old. I especially didn't understand war. I couldn't figure out why people would do that to other people. I still struggle with that one, actually.
As a young adult, I kept up the habit. Eventually I dumped my TV, but with the internet, you don't need a TV. All those delightful concerns can be accessed 24/7 on your smartphone. I don't typically watch video content because it's slow paced and I read faster than I can listen to someone talk, but I am still a news junkie, and its a bad habit.
Even here, where I'm practicing a craft that I've always wanted to take up, I still can't escape the news. I just contribute a tiny little trickle to the great river of information and analysis. Granted, given the lunacy in the world right now, it's pretty hard to step away from it. But doesn't every addict have their excuse for why they need their next fix? My lady friend, who is wiser than I, tells me to just focus on other things. She's right, but in another sense I feel like that would be the same as trying to settle in to paint a picture, say, while there's a hungry tiger in the room.
That's probably the point of the whole enterprise. We are hardwired to learn about and assess potential threats in our environment. When we feel threatened (and regardless of political affiliation, many of us feel threatened right now), we feel compelled to investigate the threat. Some of us are just more obsessive about it than others. Add in advertising and you have a recipe for success.
It's just a bunch of cacomagic. I know this, but I still splash around in the sewers.
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