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Stop Reading the News

A Manifesto for a Happier, Calmer and Wiser Life

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Stop Reading the News

By: Rolf Dobelli, Caroline Waight - translator
Narrated by: Keith Wickham
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Summary

 News is to the mind as sugar is to the body.

In 2013 Rolf Dobelli stood in front of a room full of journalists and proclaimed that he did not read the news. It caused a riot. Now he finally sets down his philosophy in detail. And he practices what he preaches: he hasn't read the news for a decade.

Stop Reading the News is Dobelli's manifesto about the dangers of the most toxic form of information
- news. He shows the damage it does to our concentration and well-being, and how a misplaced sense of duty can misdirect our behaviour.

From the author of the bestselling The Art of Thinking Clearly, Rolf Dobelli offers the reader guidance about how to live without news, and the many potential gains to be had: less disruption, more time, less anxiety, more insights. In a world of increasing disruption and division, Stop Reading the News is a welcome voice of calm and wisdom.

(P) 2020 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd©2020 Piper Verlag GmbH * Art & Literature Journalists, Editors & Publishers Media Studies Personal Development Personal Success Social Sciences Stress Management Thought-Provoking
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Critic reviews

Challenging, yet might point to the future of journalism.
Rolf Dobelli writes clearly, intelligently and convincingly (Gerhard Schroder)
Rolf Dobelli offers plenty of food for thought, and writes clearly - stimulating, amusing, brilliant (Dr Christoph Franz, former CEO of Lufthansa, Chairman of Roche)
Worth reading to explore why news attracts.
Rolf Dobelli's works are informative, insightful, and accessible. In an age of celebrity ignoramuses, he is a true public intellectual. (Lou Marinoff, Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York)
Rolf Dobelli possesses one of Europe's finest minds (Matt Ridley, author of The Evolution of Everything)
Rolf Dobelli is a virtuosic synthesizer of ideas. With wit, grace, and precision he melds science and art in hisjoyful pursuit of wisdom. (Joshua Greene, professor of psychology, Harvard University, and author of Moral Tribes)
Rolf Dobelli is brilliant at converting evidence from scientific research into practical steps that improve personal outcomes. (Robert Cialdini, author of the international bestseller Influence)
All stars
Most relevant
The book is pretty good, no doubt. A big issue is a book that is under 3 hours long (Closer to 2 hours for me as I listen to them at 1.5 speed) is the same price as other books that are far longer. Quantity doesn't always mean quality, I know. That being said I did enjoy the book even though I'm far from a "news junky" myself, it's interesting to hear from the perspective of someone that was once.

Not sure books this short really justify a credit

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I was anxious following news on the pandemic. After minimising news, I sleep better, enjoy going to supermarket again. Enjoy walks, cooking easy meals.

Very helpful to me in reducing Anxiety

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I am half way through this book and I think I understand the main ideas. With some of them I agree, however there is also plenty to dispute. The author briefly describes his path to the epiphany of abandoning the news and follows up by calling the reader to follow on his footsteps, listing the benefits of saving time and using it to read proper staff, such as books and in-depth analysis.


While I agree that most of the news are largely irrelevant to one's personal life, it doesn't mean that on a rare but important occasion the information conveyed won't be crucial, specially if you live in a large city. There might be an attack or a riot with the epicentre in your neighbourhood. A new computer virus might have been just discovered or a cloud of chemical waste blown towards your city. The stock market might be tumbling. Yes, you'll eventually hear about it from your friends (if you have friends) but it might be too late.


There is also entertainment value in the news. A person who ate a can of worms in Arizona is a far away freak, but he is still entertaining. Not everyone wants to work constantly on self improvement by reading scientific journals. Some people have plenty of time to spare on nonsense.


Most news is the brightly coloured rubbish sweets, the noise, which the book is convincingly demonstrating. Yet, the author assumes that his reader is a silly child in a sweet shop, while many of us are already adults with some concept of healthy eating.

Good insights but too much preaching

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I agree with almost everything said here. Consuming daily global and national news is making us a population of sick anxious, paranoid individuals that have fallen prey to learned helplessness. If you really want improve your life focus on actually taking action on a limited amount of issues you care enough about to deep dive into, and actually have time for. The only thing I disagreed with the author about was physical volunteering Vs giving money to charities . I give money to charities sparingly (I do the red cross, and small sporadic amounts to a few others), but generously volunteer my time with local charities and causes. The reason is I disagree with how many large charities spend money on six figure CEOs and chuggers (paid collectors who harass people on their doorstep and in the street). If I 'm directly involved with volunteering face to face, I get more of a sense of how the funds are being spent

Excellent! This book should be required reading in schools

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A good read. I enjoyed this and it helped me to see things from several angles.

Interesting and challenging

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