The perils of surplus

A muscular presentation of an argument which is almost certainly directionally correct though the effect sizes may be smaller than presented. From News is bad for you – and giving up reading it will make you happier by Rolf Dobelli.

The perils of plenty.

In the past few decades, the fortunate among us have recognised the hazards of living with an overabundance of food (obesity, diabetes) and have started to change our diets. But most of us do not yet understand that news is to the mind what sugar is to the body. News is easy to digest. The media feeds us small bites of trivial matter, tidbits that don't really concern our lives and don't require thinking. That's why we experience almost no saturation. Unlike reading books and long magazine articles (which require thinking), we can swallow limitless quantities of news flashes, which are bright-coloured candies for the mind. Today, we have reached the same point in relation to information that we faced 20 years ago in regard to food. We are beginning to recognise how toxic news can be.

There then follows a ten point indictment with suitable reference to logic and research.

News Misleads

News is irrelevant

News has no explanatory power

News is toxic to your body

News increases cognitive errors

News inhibits thinking

News works like a drug

News wastes time

News makes us passive

News kills creativity

Lots of good points.