I used to. Decades ago I entered what I call my “reciprocal agreement with the universe”. I care about it as much as it cares about me.
With the occasional exception of weather disasters, or catching the edge of a program my wife is watching, I haven’t watched any news for years. Turns out I really didn’t need all that breathlessly delivered information.
So no, no fatigue here.
Part of the problem may well be that it is ludicrously easy for any single person to create an instant, worldwide “issue” worthy of concern, outrage, fear, pity, despair etc. So many of us, without a conscious decision to avoid it, will be bombarded by a dozen things to be horrified by before breakfast. It is no wonder that it becomes somewhat overwhelming and difficult to calibrate exactly how much we should care about what issue. There is also pressure to be seen to do something, even if that something is useless, irrelevant or even counterproductive by diverting you from actual solutions. And of course once you’ve done *something *you can forget about that particular issue for a bit.
Climate change for example. even a cursory look at the charts tells you that emissions aren’t reducing on a global scale, they aren’t even slowing down on a global scale. Your Prius is pointless, your recycling is pointless, if you are actually serious about doing anything then don’t have kids and tell China, India and the developing world to stop developing. There really is a stark choice between that and diverting your efforts into mitigating the harm coming our way.
This is a problem I run into with FB. I have friends and family sharing information on things that are important to them, and that I often agree with, and they suggest that you also should share them if you care.
The problem is that sharing too much can become equivalent to sharing too little. If I share every one of these things then I risk overloading all of my friends and a given share would fall off of the top of my page before anyone sees it.
You have to pick and choose carefully and risk people thinking you’re an uncaring jerk for not sharing their concern.
Plus, if you allow yourself to sucked into sharing everything, then any step back from that standard leaves you open to be judged on why you *didn’t *share something.
Ah, the serene wisdom of not giving a fuck.
The problem is that people used to have religion to give their lives meaning. Now that more people are beginning to understand that all that mythology was completely made up, they need something else to feel holier than thou about. Thus, radical environmentalism and animal rights activity and racial sensitivity and cultural awareness.
I’m with you on this boat. I used to listen to NPR on the way to work a few years ago when I realized that every single news story was about something bad happening or was going to happen and I realized my life is pretty terrible right now, I don’t need constant reminders that it’s going to get worse. So I stopped watching the news and turn away from anything to do with news or politics.
I was thinking about this more last night- there’s also a sort of guilt component to it that wasn’t there before that comes from either knowing that I took the convenient/cheap route, instead of the “right” one. For example, buying a cheap bar of chocolate instead of the rainforest friendly, fair-trade, heirloom bar for 150% more- there’s a little bit of self-recrimination that comes with buying the cheaper one, even though it’s demonstrably better for my bank account.
It’s one reason I like shopping at our local Mexican/Latin oriented grocery stores; they’re marketing their stuff toward lower-income people who don’t have the time or money for this BS, so the products are straightforward. Meanwhile, a few miles away, there’s Whole Foods, which is kind of the antithesis of that, with their meat case having steaks graded by their ethicality score. WTF is that?
And how accurate are those scores anyway? There’s a strong incentive for someone along the supply chain to exagerate or even outright lie, and I don’t think there are any laws mandating what those scores indicate.
I’m right there with you, bump. And if you find a company is doing something you just can’t support, it often turns out that it’s nearly impossible to avoid them. And just how true is the information you’re getting?
For example, recent reports on one company has me thinking I want to avoid them. But one of their products is the comfort food I’ve been eating almost exclusively.
And it seems like most of the companies I want to buy from are problematic. sigh
Also related: Alert fatigue/Alarm fatigue
That’s a good point. I’ve noticed that our newest vehicle is quite frantic when I’m parking in a tight situation. Various sensors on the bumpers and maybe the camera too are binging and bonging the entire time I’m backing in. As an old truck driver, I know where the edges are, so I’ve started tuning them out. A few days ago I puzzled out the controls and turned them all off.
It’s like the backup warnings in a construction area. They are so constant they become meaningless.
Yes, the wiki specifically mentioned construction sites. Emergency Departments also get a lot of alerts.
It’s like they say in ‘The Incredibles’:
Helen:
Everyone’s special, Dash.
Dash:
Which is another way of saying no-one is.
…AND…
Syndrome : Everyone can be super! And when everyone’s super…
[laughs maniacally]
…no one will be.