So I've been living in a flyspeck of a town in the middle of fucking nowhere for almost 6 months. I've had no time to do anything except work, study a little (for work), eat lousy food, and sleep. I do this 7 days a week. In that time, I have not had the chance to read my usual share of Economist, Guardian, SMH or watch my share of CNBC, BBC World or Fox News.

I love it. I don't know what the hell is going on in Iraq. I don't know what the hell is going on in Afghanistan, US politics, UK politics, Aussie politics. For the first time in years, I don't know the price of gold, the CRB, or any of the major exchange rates. I don't even know what the price of crude is anymore.

And more to the point: I don't seem to care.

So now the question. Why do we seem to care about what goes on in the world?

I hear ya. When I went travelling for a couple of months, I had no connection to world news, world events, tv, sports (unless something happened in the city I was in, but nothing related to north american sports). I used the internet maybe 4 or 5 times, and it was just to email. I have to say that it was amazing to just disconnect like that. Mind you, I was having fun traveling around, so I don't know if i could do what you're doing. I'd have to keep myself pretty occupied with other things to be able to disconnect like that.

Most people (at least students that I run into) seem to be nearly this disconnected. The only news they seem to be very familiar with is entertainment related. Perhaps they are happier because of this.

There is a strange comfort in apathy, but ultimately it's a horrible way to go through life. I think people do care, and it's harder to ignore the world around you than it is to participate in it.

I'm proud to say I don't know any of these currently. I can't say I ever know any of them for much more than the 10 seconds I skim over them in an article or if I'm traveling to a country where I may want to know the exchange rate.

that's all my brother and sister know, entertainment news. And they appear to be a lot happier than me.

when i was travelling, i was perfectly happy to be cocooned in a headspace where none of these things mattered- but as soon as i got near an english newspaper, i was all over it like a rash.
now if i leave the city for even a day or 2, i'm constantly searching high and low for a copy of The Age or checking the websites of the BBC/Age/Crikey or whatever.

I don't really know why I do it, but I couldn't live any other way.

Absolutely. Me and my colleague are doing the work of about 4 people, so we're in the office pretty much from 8 AM until 10 PM.

I will of course in time come back to my old habits... but I'm wondering why.

i dont know if its the same thing, but i only pay attention to whats in front of me, call it ignorance, call it bliss, but it works for me

this deserves to be repeated.

you're a perceptive guy, frank.

Knowledge is a burden, no doubt about it. We are not machines, we are emotional beings, and when we understand something we react to it in some way. Sometimes we react in apathy, but the burden of understanding still remains.
I believe like anything else that there is a balance. Any person can only take on so much burden and still strive for happiness. You can't investigate and understand EVERY issue in the world, you cant solve EVERYONES problems and take on EVERYTHING. There are limits. The more knowledge and understanding you gain, the more the burden becomes. Everyone has a different thresholded or capacity for taking on that burden. And if you choose to separate yourself from all the information and worldly goings-on, your burdens will certainly feel minute in that regard.

so what about the other way around? can true happiness really only occur when you don't know?

personally this is how it works for me, i don't think i can ever be truly happy. Way too much shit going on in the world. and living in Florida certainly doesn't help either .

Oh yeah Florida, maaaaan it couldnt possibly be worse.

I instinctively agree. But why is it a horrible way to go through life?



Arguable. Define people. In any event, even if they (collectively) do, why should they?



I struggle with this part. I'm tending to disagree and am tempted to argue the opposite.



Why should knowledge and understanding be a burden per se?



That is exactly the question, Laura.

i hope you realize that of course i know there are a LOT of places worse than Florida, i was just referring to the fact that a lot of shitty US news seems to come from down here lately , some of which has directly affected me.

I think we have to recognize that there are two different aspects out there, ignorance and indifference. It looks like the two may be connected with you (and several others in the world, no doubt), but it is definitely possible to be one but not the other.

I don't know what the people you've quoted will have to say, but here's my opinion:

When I wa sin college, I hardly ever saw a TV. I'd watch The Simpsons, and football, and that was about it. Never the news. The Soviet Union fell my first semester in college and I literally had no idea until I went home for Thanksgiving break.

Not that sitting in front a computer screen reading news all day is all that great either, but I have to agree with Frank that being ignorant and happy is no way to live either. The ignorant in America are a much bigger problem than the Republicans are.

It seems to me that knowledge and innocence cannot coexist. A developing child for example, retains their innocence so long as they remain unaware and incapable. As they gain knowledge, their innocence disappears proportionally. Knowledge is a burden because it compels people to do something, or to choose NOT to do something. There is the difference between ignorance and indifference like Nick was talking about. Ignorance is a lack of knowledge, where indifference is knowing something, but choosing not to care one way or the other.
Knowledge is a burden because you are forced to make a decision. Even if that decision is to do nothing, you still must make that decision.
Ignorance is not a burden because you don't have to decide anything. There is nothing to decide, if you don't know!

I guess because if someone isn't aware of the world around them, they're probably destined to an extreme case of self-absorption, which cannot be healthy.



People? Me, you, the guy working at 711, anybody and everybody. And when I say people do care, I mean its instilled from within. People don't have a choice as to if they care or not; some just fight the urge and plead ignorance.



The aforementioned ignorance is a concious effort, and any effort, good or bad, takes energy. Because it's instilled in the human spirit to care, all that negative energy to ignore life is difficult to maintain consistently. I really don't see how you or anyone could claim the opposite. Please explain?