I think we forget how our ancestors lived. Not even our ancestors but just our grandparents, for they lived in a world of little to no television and certainly no 24-hour-news coverage and of course no social media. It was a simpler time I think. We need to make a manifesto: Remove 90% Of Social Media and News From Your Life!
Remove 90% Of Social Media and News From Your Life
When I graduated high school in the early 90s, we didn’t have email, the Internet, and the computers were not impressive. We were told that email was going to make our lives more efficient and thus clear up more hours of our day for leisure. But in fact the opposite occurred, email cluttered our life with more work.
The internet was promised to be a Library of Alexandria depository of all knowledge that had been accrued since the time of recorded history. And for all intents and purposes it is. But most people use the internet for pornography, gaming, and social media, not learn how to speak Japanese, learn French philosophy, German romantic poetry or anything cultural or important.
And he is the crux of my point. Screen are corroding our lives in so many ways. I have an episode of The Awakened Man from a few years back which details that the average American spends 11 hours a day on screens. We are screen-addicted, whether it be TV, gaming, Internet, porn, social media, et al. All of these things are a waste of time, none of the aforementioned make us smarter or more refined.
In fact it is the opposite. Study after study shows that the more time you spend on social media, in particular Instagram, the higher rates of depression, body dysmorphia, suicidal ideation, anxiety, FOMO, infidelity and other mental health issues. It makes sense, for if you are on Facebook and all you see are pictures of people when they are happy, you think they are happy all the time and then you think “well, I’m not happy all the time” and therefore get more depressed. Get off of social media for your mental health sake! Click here for Awakened Men episodes on these topics. And HERE for data mining!
Not to mention the data mining. Like the movie Minority Report, we are constantly being tracked by Big Business and the government. In social media, we are the prey, not the customers, for the customers are the companies which buy the data that Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok and alike track and sell to these companies.
News Is Pointless
What is the point of watching the news? Whether it be local, national nightly news, or 24 hour news. You can’t affect change in D.C., Rome (if you are a Catholic), or anywhere else, so why stress over things out of your control. Big News manipulates us daily, ratchets up our anxiety and anger all in the name of staying hooked on the station for their ratings and for the money they accrue through advertising. And what are the main advertisements? Drugs!!!
What is the better thing to do?
Tune-out. Remove 90% Of Social Media and News From Your Life. If you must watch TV for leisure, only watch streaming (Netflix, HBO Max). Yes, your data is being tracked and sold but at least you are avoiding commercials and news propaganda (and yes, Fox News is propaganda like all news is).
Get rid of ALL social media. Purge yourself of rabbit holes like Youtube and Reddit. Eliminate or highly limit gaming from your life. What are you, 16-years-old! Completely remove porn!
Take walks, read a book, journal, go work out, listen to music, take naps, hang with friends. Screens are pernicious not only to your physical health (sedentary lifestyle linked to ALL diseases), but most importantly, to your mental health. Tune out of all news and screens. And no doubt, do the same for any children in your life. Now go take a walk!