Book 235 - A Year of Magical Learning

Reflection Title: I’m done with the News!

Book – Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman

Book Description:

Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. Now, with television joined by more sophisticated electronic media—from the Internet to cell phones to DVDs—it has taken on even greater significance. Amusing Ourselves to Death is a prophetic look at what happens when politics, journalism, education, and even religion become subject to the demands of entertainment. It is also a blueprint for regaining control of our media, so that they can serve our highest goals.

Reflection:

Wow…was this book written in 1985 or 2022?

The public discourse medium’s may have shifted from primarily television based to the modern streaming services, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram vs Television, but the thought still holds true and is profound. We are literally amusing ourselves to death.

It is addictive…and I’ll before the first to admit that I’m an addict, as I’m sure most everyone is as well.

To be fair to myself, I don’t think I over consume media to the point of distraction from my purpose and Living for 2, but I’m no saint. Once I get done with my days meaningful work, there is a lot of time that is spent filling those other hours with consuming media that is curated exactly for my tastes to keep me coming back for more and more. My personal media vices are CNN / Fox News on Television (yes I watched both), ESPN, Yahoo News, and Purdue Fan Rivals Site on the internet, and stupid Facebook / Instagram Reels (those incredibly addictive TikTok like videos that you can scroll for days on if you want) on social media. If I’m not living for 2, at my day job, or taking care of Luca…I’m probably doing one of these activities 90% of that spare time.

What I’m most embarrassed about is my yahoo news feed is always filled with stories of the Kardashians, because their algorithm knows for some reason I can never scroll past an article with one of them in the title without clicking. These are the most mind-numbing articles about what they did, where they went, gossip about their life, etc. I don’t even watch their shows, but I know so much about their lives and I don’t know why.

What a waste of time, and most importantly…what a waste of purpose!

The most frustrating thing, as I’m reflecting on these unhealthy habits, is how much more time I could be putting toward my purpose if I stopped granting these mediums my attention and applied it to things that I cared about. When I think about all the meaningful things I could be doing instead scrolling through the next TikTok video…it kind of makes me want to puke.

After reading this book and deepening my understanding as to how unhealthy these habits are for myself (and society as a whole), I think I’m officially ready to do my best to limit all consumption of the “news” to the best of my abilities as it serves no purpose in my life other than pure mind numbing entertainment. The compound effect of striving to Live for 2 in as much as I can each day has naturally already drastically reduced my news / internet / media consumption vs before this journey began, but I certainly am no saint and can do better.

This journey is about finding and living your purpose. To make sure I’m walking the walk, I’m going to make my next monthly challenge to be limiting myself to 10 minutes a day to consume news in any form. I’m excited to see how what happens when I turn that tap off and what naturally fills the time to replace it. I have a feeling I know exactly what will happen, but let’s play it out and see where it goes to confirm.

Question: Are you letting others waste your purpose? What are you willing to do about it?

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Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? - An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - Coming Soon

YOML Bookstore - Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman