News is Toxic
July 20, 2013
One of the occupational hazards of being a professor is that every summer I HAVE to teach overseas in places like Germany, Thailand, Hong Kong or Brazil. I know! I know! It’s a tough job but someone has to do it, right? And weekends are tougher when I take a short drive from Germany to the Alsace or to one of my favorite countries, Switzerland.
While that may all sound idyllic, there is a down side to travel in foreign countries and that is finding a television station that is in English so that I can at least keep up with the news. In all the years I have been logging miles, I have always felt CNN is my friend because that is the one station that I can tune into without fail no matter where I am in the world.
Imagine my delight this July that while teaching in Germany I was able to watch CNN every day in my German home away from home. Well, I was delighted at least until I took a side jaunt to Switzerland where I read an article by the Swiss writer, Rolf Dobelli, who back in April reported “news is to the mind what sugar is to the body”. Dobelli is convinced that news consumption leads to fear and aggression, and hinders creativity and clear thinking. And if you don’t believe him, then answer this question he poses: “Out of the ¬10,000 news stories you may have read in the last 12 months, did even one allow you to make a better decision about a serious matter in your life?”
The solution to what Dobelli considers is bad about news—that it is toxic, irrelevant, a hindrance to creative thinking, and stress producing – is to simply not consume it at all. He personally has been “off news” for four years and raves about the benefits! What is your take on this? Click on this link for the full article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/apr/12/news-is-bad-rolf-dobelli
However you weigh in on the topic, I know a source of good news – news that will grant peace, compel active deeds of kindness, and teach of the only true Creator. God’s Word is my true friend and rather than spreading out in front of CNN during my travels, I need to be more concerned with spreading the good news of God’s Word. His word is health to our flesh and life to those who find them. And in reading God’s Word I have made more than one serious decision that matters not only in this life but for all eternity! (Sheryl)
My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them and health to all their body
Proverbs 4:20-22