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  1. The Guardian4/12/139 min
    24 reads6 comments
    9.1
    The Guardian
    24 reads
    9.1
    You must read the article before you can comment on it.
    • marius3 years ago

      I avoid reading news since a couple of years. The Economist is the only publication I read on a somehow regular basis. Nevertheless, I find myself more and more reading news due to Twitter and LinkedIn. This article is brilliantly showcasing why news are bad.

    • woznak3 years ago

      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.

      This is something I've never really considered.

      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.

      So, obviously this all depends on who Rolf considers "creative."

      But I am always amazed by the creatives I see on twitter, consistently interacting with the news of the day. First, I just don't get how they find the time to maintain a following and do actual creative work. With this article, I'm also realizing how many will latch onto a specific narrative, and how that may influence their work.

    • [user]3 years ago

      This comment was deleted on 8/6/2020

    • joanne
      Reading streak
      3 years ago

      Wow, I want to make my case for every example the author brought up. Instead I will let this information saturate my brain.

    • bill
      Top reader of all time
      3 years ago

      A classic. (Great find, deephdave.)

      Written in 2013, lots to chew on here. We should all keep chewing on all of this.

    • deephdave
      Top reader this weekTop reader of all timeScoutScribe
      3 years ago

      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.

      Society needs journalism – but in a different way. Investigative journalism is always relevant. We need reporting that polices our institutions and uncovers truth. But important findings don't have to arrive in the form of news. Long journal articles and in-depth books are good, too.