About consumption speed

When I want a thrill, I walk to the corner store without my phone.

The worst hobby

Bad things happen when you combine the self-affirming nature of beliefs with a habit of consuming lots of morally-charged content.

Many people make a daily routine of consuming large quantities of highly partisan content about “what’s going on” in “the” “world.” Enthusiasts of this hobby call it “staying informed,” and insist it isn’t just a personal habit but a civic duty.

This content consists of new beliefs (“news” for short) about what happened today or yesterday, presented with an authoritative tone and little moral ambiguity. They identify clear villains and clear implications. They often give instructions from hand-selected experts on how smart people should think about this.