8

Be ill-informed

We live in a world of 24-hour, rolling news. National newspapers are dead in the water as they’re too slow. People crave their news fix instantly through the internet, mobile, Twitter and TV.

But do we really need so much news? Sure we’re worried about bombings in the Middle East, or currency crises in Europe, but does your success depend on your ability to know exactly what’s going on in the world?

The trouble with too much news is not just that it’s a waste of time; it’s actively damaging.

One of the legendary rules of news is that ‘if it bleeds, it leads’. Experimenters at McGill University found that people showed a greater physiological reaction to bad news, through brain activity and sweating. Sadly, good news is ...

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