Keeping Up

The Art of Manliness is a go-to site for me. While the name may put some of you off, Brett McKay and his wife Kate do long form posts on culture and history that would be interesting to anyone. Full disclosure, though: in general, the site is very much aimed at men, in a very cultured and conservative way.

Recently the McKays posted on “Is there any reason to keep up with the news?” (Read time approx. 12 minutes.) They review a recent book by Alain de Botton: The News: A User’s Guide. (I first noticed de Botton through his TED talk on A kinder, gentler philosophy of success, also worth a look.) They discuss de Botton’s arguments and question our actual motivations for keeping up, such as “fear of missing out.” It is a thoughtful piece and may be interesting as you evaluate using your time and attention on news broadcasts and sites. You can probably get the gist of my own position from this previous post.