I don't read the newspapers and I'm not that in-touch with current affairs. That said, I do
kind of know what's happening around the world, thanks to my bad habit of reading other people's newspaper on the train. My parents have the habit of spending at least 2 hours a day reading the papers over coffee. Over the years, I questioned if my few good reasons as to why I don't share the same passion are actually excuses made up for my laziness. After much rationalizing, I do believe they are good reasons. Here's why:
1. It's damn boring. News are not boring by nature as they are...news. But the way it's reported on the newspaper is written in facts. Reading facts is a boring task to me. That said, I do scan headlines on The New York Times because it's free, and it's more pleasant to read than The Straits Times. I used to subscribe to Newsweek, but I'm so used to instantaneous RSS feeds that I find news reported weekly are not exactly news.
2. It doesn't value add to my life. Before you hurl verbal abuses at me, do hear out why I think that way. News on its own doesn't value add to anyone's life unless you think about what you've read. If you're just absorbing the facts like a sponge without questioning the information, then reading the news is a pretty mindless task. One ear in, one ear out. In the first place, reading the newspaper is already a boring task to me so I've difficulty focusing on the content. Hence, I have difficulty thinking about what I've read as I'm close to drooling and dozing. I spend at least 3-4 hours reading a day without fail, even when I had a 9-6 job. I read during all my fringe time, like when I commute, before I sleep and over breakfast. But I make it a point to read content that will potentially improve a skill or to spur growth (not to my height but to my thinking). At least, read content that might change the way you see the world. To put the point across, if I don't see myself thinking about the content, then I don't see a point in reading it.
3. There's no entertainment value. So if I can't grow from reading the newspaper due to the way I function and the way its being written, then I'd be reading them for entertainment's sake. In that case, I'd rather watch The Simpsons. If the entertainment value is for knowing to hold a conversation with friends, then here's my take - over the years, I find out that scanning the headlines on the train normally does its job. More importantly, people are always more than happy to tell you what they know, so I just hear about the phenomenal happenings from around the world from them. Then if I find what I hear are interesting, I'll do a Google search to read more extensively.
4. That said, times have changed. My mom always says reading the newspaper keeps you educated about what's happening around the world. I disagree. As much as I believe we should never, ever be ignorant, the world is changing. There're a lot more information, a lot more thought-leaders out there and I refuse to spend 14 hours a week playing catch up. If I want to know extensively about the industry I am in, I always do a Google search and read up. If I want to know what's happening to my neighbourhood, I Google search to read relevant articles. Yes, you should keep abreast with what's happening especially if your job or business calls for it, and most of them do anyway, but I still think Google search helps filter a lot of unwanted information that are screaming for your attention.
5. What a depressing world. I ever play this game with myself before. I wanted to know the positive-negative ratio to the news reported. So I randomly picked up 3 articles and counted the number of negative words and the number of positive words per article. I don't remember the exact ratio (you can try it yourself), but it's not surprising that it's more skewed to negativity. Floods, murder, poverty, abandoned children, kidnapped children, theft...What's the point of spending 14 hours a week reading about them, then lament about the crazy, mad world we're living in, instead of taking action and doing something about them? And tons and tons of people are just exactly like that. They just complain about the fucked up things in the world because it's so easy to sit back, read about them and shake your head. If you go to The Hunger Site everyday to click, a cup of food is donated to a hungry child by sponsors (assuming you don't wish to donate cash but want to contribute in some ways). Then spending 14 hours a week to tell your friends about the hunger site will get a lot more children fed. That said, I'm guilty as charged as I'd rather spend 14 hours a week watching The Simpsons on Fox TV. My point is minimally, don't sit back and lament about the depressing world. Bring some joy to the lives of people around you by humoring yourself, or take some action for the things in the world that depresses you.
6. There are other sources such as Fortune magazine, The Economist, Slate etc that can keep you abreast with on-goings but written in a manner that's actually very fun to read. At least, to me.
Are they excuses or good legitimate reasons? I don't know. It's my take and it's the way I function. Life has been working out well for me so far. If you strongly disagree, I'm always happy to have you challenge my views and maybe you could change the way I see things.
p/s I wrote this because I saw many people holding newspapers on the train last night. Then I started wondering about their lives, my life and the lives of people that are published on the papers.
