Does Keeping Track of Current Events Improve your Life?
Posted: Monday, November 16, 2009
by Dianne Lehmann
Artisan Jewelry from SyZyGy
I don't keep track of current events. I haven't for many years now. I had a friend once who was just aghast at the notion. He couldn't understand why I didn't want to know what is going on in the world in general. He would read the hard copy newspapers and online news publications religiously. He seemed almost afraid to be found outside of the loop and could schmooze sports and politics and world events with the best of them. But I could never see where it made any real difference in his life. It seemed to me to be much more of an obsession than anything else.
According to Wikipedia, "Current events are contemporary happenings of significance, usually covered in the news," or "current affairs; those events and issues of interest currently found in the news." Well, darn it, that could be anything and apparently according to Google Trends/Hot Trends, concerns mostly injured sports figures, nude pictures of someone I've never heard of and the like. If these are the hot topics, the things on the minds of the majority of people well I just have to wonder about that. What about Afghanistan or Chinese product imports or the health of the Russian government? What about the American health care issue or the fact that the over use of fragrances could be destroying our health in ways we haven't even imagined yet (okay, so that last is one of my pet peeves)? At 11:24 a.m. on Sunday, November 15, 2009, standing at number 19 out of the top 40 topics was "Sarah Palin Newsweek cover." It sounds a bit more "topical" as I might define it, but having not looked into it any further than that, I don't really know.
The reason I don't follow current events is that so much of what is reported is negative. I guess it's what "sells" and I have to wonder about that, too. Okay, so the network news programs and some of the local "news" shows (and I use the term loosely in regards to the latter) try to throw us the tidbit of a lighthearted or uplifting story at the end of the program. So what? The majority of it is negative, sad and downright disturbing. It is complete with pictures (some of them quite gory) so that it will be burned indelibly into our brains. Oh wait a minute what am I saying because apparently it isn't being burned indelibly into the brains of the majority of people watching it based on the Google Trends top 40. Fluff is what seems to be on most people's minds.
Does keeping track of current events improve our lives? I'm going to say the answer is probably not. Does it hurt us? Maybe. Or could it be that our lives are so bad that we need the distraction of "fluff" just to feel a bit better? Does taking a look at some poor rich idiot getting drunk and totaling their Rolls Royce make us feel better about our own lives? Wouldn't we be wiser to use the time more constructively in a real effort to make things better for ourselves?
We spend so much time glued to the Tube as it is without adding keeping track of current events. There are all our favorite entertainment programs to watch (I'm not leaving myself out in this regard) so why do we need to waste (yes waste) even more time by watching the news on the tube, or reading it in the paper or online. When did knowing which football team triumphed over another make a real difference in you day-to-day life? What is really important to you? If it's "walmart black friday sales 2009" at number one on Google's Top 40 or "deangelo williams" at number #3 and you know this, well fine. But what is important to me is my health and the health of those around me. Do I have enough to eat? Can we earn enough money to maintain our modest life style? How are my friends doing? Have I assessed my mental health and done what's needed to improve it today? Is my cat happy? These sorts of things are what matter to me in my day-to-day life.
So does keeping track of current events improve your life? I can't say that for me it ever has. And there have been times when it actually hurt it; which is why I stopped. There are television shows and movies that I will not watch for the same reason. I can't answer this question for you. You will just have to answer it for yourself.
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Dianne, WONDERFUL article, and I couldn't agree more. There is so little actual "news", that I rarely watch it. I see more than I'd like simply because my husband apparently 'needs' his daily fix of news. Often more than once. Weather news is one of my big pet peeves. Do I really need to be told MULTIPLE times in a 5 minute segment what the temperature is, or be told whether or not I need a coat or umbrella?Hi Joyce.Guess it's a guy thing because my husband pays more attention to current events than I do. Of course, that's not hard considering I basically pay them no attention at all.I figured there would be at least a few folks out there who agreed with me. Intelligent aren't we? :)Thank you for reading and commenting!Dianne
Hi Fran & Dianne. Listening to news the first thing in the morning might just make me really crazy. :) I admire you for trying to write for this contest even when you can't find anything to really get excited about. I'm taking Dianne's path with the contest. :)Hi again, Joyce.Yeah, you know, some things just aren't worth it to me. Nothing admirable really in what I wrote. I just had to get in my two cents worth. I'll have to look at what Fran has written.Take it easy,Dianne
Hi Dianne a well written piece, and if it makes you fell better I loved your joke about your friend being taller. I think if it were not for current events I would come to a standstill with my writing as I rely on some of the true infromation given to write about.There are many news bulletins I'd rather not hear, but then the choice is all mine whether to prick my ears or not. I have always liked to be in the know of whats happening around me as it makes me aware of many nasty situations I could find myself in. And on top of that you never know if a the next newsflash is going to prompt the winner of the Euro millions to come forward before the deadline to collect their winnings. I can see it now " Will the holder of the jackpot ticket bought in the Cheshire area and who we have reason to believe the person be a woman and writes for Searchwarp - anyone who knows this woman tell her time is running out" Got to go Dianne next news at 1pm - 6pm and at 10pm.Keep wellKacyHi Kacy.I can see you use currents events to your advantage. And I do understand wanting to know what is going on around you. It's just that I have a sensitive nature. :) And I am easily upset. I prefer not to be upset. Wah, wah, wah. :)I hope you get that good news!Please keep well, also, and thanks for reading!Dianne
Thanks Diane for your astute analysis. Much of what passes for current events is gossip and mindless (I would consider those things more pop culture than news). I would say, however, that real current events (news about government, the environment, social issues etc.) is necessary in keeping a citizenry informed.Now it can be argued that the American public has not done its due diligence in being rightly informed and has feasted on some of the more sensationalist aspects of the "news." Nevertheless, I think we are better off when we are better informed.Thanks again Diane for your insights.Hi Edward.Actually, I do keep myself informed about the things that matter to me: environmental health, medical developments and innovations, those sorts of things. I choose carefully what I look at. But I think a lot of folks don't. They sit in front of the Tube and take in what others are telling them is important (sometimes I don't have the most flattering opinion of the masses ... sorry). And honestly, the gossip (as you put it) is not.Thank you, Edward, for your insights and comments.Dianne
Dianne,Much of what is in the news says so much about who we are as a people. It is sad. Very well written, Dianne, but I must confess to being one who wants to know what is happening. I see a change in our standards which have lowered, our morality of which there is less and less, and our decency which is becoming non-existent. There needs to be a change. And if we sit back and allow it to continue, it will only get worse.Thanks for an excellent article.Hi Nancy.That's certainly putting it plainly ... and very well. And I completely agree with you. Maybe we all need to get together and tell the various media that we don't want to be told that fluff is important and that we want to see good news instead of bad. Would that work, do you think? A more positive outlook, in general, would have to help. Right?Thanks for your thoughts!DianneDianne,A more positive outlook would be novel as well as eliminating the fluff.
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