on news

02 Mar, 2025

What news! how much more important to know what that is which was never old!
Henry David Thoreau

Being informed is great, but it’s also incredibly difficult, if not impossible. By 2016, The New York Times was publishing over 250 pieces daily, and that’s just one source¹. The world moves fast, and not all information is the same. Some facts are easy to grasp: if you want to know who won the last election, you can quickly find the answer. But understanding why that person won? That requires reading conflicting viewpoints, analyzing data, and sorting through biases. It’s time-consuming and, if we’re honest, most people aren’t searching for the objective truth (if there even is one); they’re looking for confirmation that their perspective is the right one². This extends beyond politics, to economics, world affairs, and social issues. There’s simply too much to process, and cutting through the noise and overcoming our own biases is no easy task.

Also, the importance of the news depends on who you are and what you do. If you're a journalist, your paycheck depends on knowing what’s happening. But I’m an architect. My work (designing, drawing, and writing about things) relies on knowledge that’s decades, sometimes centuries, old. Even with industry updates, like software changes, I can afford to be a little late. I use myself as an example here, but I suspect the same applies to many others: most of the time, knowing what’s happening right now isn’t as essential as we’re led to believe. Staying informed is a noble pursuit, but given its difficulties and the time it takes, it simply doesn’t work for me.

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