The title of the book drew me in while I was caught up in a stream of endless reading of the news on the war in Ukraine for almost a month. I knew that this behavior was having a mentally deteriorating effect on me but I simply couldn’t and didn’t want to stop. This event felt too close to me to be able to act more rationally with the consumption of information.

News is to the mind what sugar is to the body: appetising, easily digestible and extremely damaging. The media is feeding us titbits that taste palatable but do nothing to satisfy our hunger for knowledge. Unlike books and well-researched long-form articles, the news cannot satiate us.

p. 16

This is the second book that I read by the author, the first one having been “The Art of Thinking Clearly”. Unfortunately, the negative parts I have previously spotted within his writing were to be found within this book as well. One star reduction was due to the fact that the book was SO. REPETITIVE. By the end, I couldn’t wait to get the reading over with, in order to stop seeing those same phrases again and again. The second star reduction was due to the writing being too judgemental. The author could often be found putting his own opinion above all others, drawing parallels and judgements that didn’t have clear reasoning within them or even sounding condescending at times, when trying to dictate his ways of life.

If you want to regain the skill of concentrating and immersing yourself in a subject, there’s no option but to go news-free. In my experience, your brain will need a year’s abstinence from the news before it’s capable of reading long texts without fatigue.

p. 82

-> The author making a judgement simply based on his own behaviour

For the positive parts, the book did contribute to the fact that I have changed my behavior towards news lately. It gave me a new perspective on certain aspects and I would see it as a useful read for those, who feel like they’re drowning in news.

The news continually stimulates our sympathetic nervous system, a part of our autonomic nervous system. Psychological stressors lead to the release of adrenaline by the hypothalamus. Adrenaline then leads to a rise in cortisol. So, every garish story can lead to the production of this stress hormone. Cortisol floods our bloodstream, weakening the immune system and inhibiting the production of growth hormones. By consuming news, you’re putting your body under stress.

p. 56

It’s a very quick read, it states quite a bit of sources and book suggestions, so that you could dive deeper into some of the topics afterwards if you feel the need to. I wouldn’t suggest the author’s writing in general but if you go into this book without any expectations, you might be able to filter out some useful suggestions for yourself.

★★★☆☆ (3/5)

_{Edition: ISBN 978-152-934-272-7
Sceptre, 2021}