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You’ll always find a reason the latest crisis is worth being scared of. But we’re just going to go from one crisis to the next so we need a way to make peace with that.

I think CS Lewis explained it well when the atomic bomb was created:

> In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”



Remember that not everyone lives at a safe distance from the events that you prefer to tune out. We haven't been referring to low probability threats that are ever present in our daily lives, but acute issues that could change our lives very fast, especially if we don't pay attention.


And of course in that case the information is of immediate importance to you, however if I'm 16000 km away, I'm not sure that I need blow by blow reporting on events that may only impact me through increased costs of goods.

I have absolutely no way of impacting events in the Ukraine, even if I decide to contribute to a charity or try to influence my local member of parliament there is still absolutely no benefit to be gained by anybody (except perhaps the media) of me consuming this coverage.

I can however benefit significantly by avoiding news reporting that is going to continually trigger primitive fight or flight instincts and leave me in a high state of stress.


To add, there's no requirement that you must keep tabs on every atrocity in the world at all times. No one is forcing people to check twitter every hour to tank your emotional energy every day.




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