Consumption of News: By Us, Of Us
It’s a tricky decision to consume news in the morning or evening… Or preferably, even less frequent than that. The world looks so very different after the dust settles.
“Consumption” in this case is eerily appropriate. Do you want to start off the day by filling your conscious mind with the thoughts and opinions of others? Or do you want to end the day doing the same?
There is little reason to actively avoid knowing “what’s going on,” perhaps — that’s just part of being a global citizen these days (so goes the assumption that you can actually find truths in reporting through normal channels without doing the footwork yourself). Between traditional media channels and the egosphere of personalized aggregators like RSS feeds that never stray outside of your interest boundaries, where the heck do we begin to construct our own sense of “what’s going on?”
Knowing your biases is a first step, to be sure. But then you start adding sources that you know you disagree with (not a bad thing) just so you can disagree with them **and** feel as though you’re stretching a little. Think about it… Isn’t that intellectually dishonest by just a _smidgen_? Do you use these alternative views to **only** compare against your preferred sources? Or do you follow up on items that aren’t even discussed elsewhere in your selected readings?
Try this ultimate horror: Ask someone else to suggest a few sources without the ability to turn them down.
Of course, this all assumes that consuming “news” is a good thing in most circumstances. I can’t say I am firmly convinced of that, but at the same time I can’t allow myself to revel in ignorance of any kind. An opinion has won out here, and I am pretty sure it wasn’t an original of mine.
- Don’t be incurious.
- Know whose footprints are being left on your mind.
- Never revel in ignorance.
- Always be ready to unplug.
