Have you ever noticed how people dislike when you do something uncommon? I used to be vegan and my colleagues tried to get me to eat meat. I started going to the gym every day and I would hear that it’s “excessive” and “unhealthy”. Even small things have this effect. I remember once a friend offered me chocolate, and I didn’t want it, and yet I was pressured to accept it.
Lately, I’ve noticed the same thing about consuming news. I don’t do that. In fact, I actively avoid news. When someone tries to tell me anything about politics or sports or crime, I often say I don’t want to know. But they persist! Even if you say it a few times, they really feel they need to tell you what they know. I sometimes resort to blatantly changing the topic.
It’s not that I am completely uninterested in what is going on. But most of the news that people want to share are awful things because that’s what elicits the strongest emotions. If I knew those things, they would stay in my head. I would think about them and worry. So, I would rather not know all that stuff.