Reviews

Stop Reading the News: A Manifesto for a Happier, Calmer and Wiser Life by Rolf Dobelli

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nicolas_seaport's review against another edition

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informative fast-paced

5.0

katiebhastings's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

1.5

imogenrobinson__'s review against another edition

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2.0

Makes me feel less guilty for not keeping all that up to date with the news. Not sure I necessarily agree with a lot of what Dobelli talks about though. He seems to pin everyone's life problems on the news... it is not a bad thing to keep abreast of current affairs, just when it becomes an addiction. Though he makes a fair point about how happy news doesn't sell, and so a lot of the news is fear-mongering.

I've never really been someone who's massively affected by things I see on the news, either - though I can see how it can cause a lot of people anxiety. I like that he talks about reading books and longer forms of news, because I am a big advocate of slow journalism.

samphire92's review against another edition

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3.0

Agree with the main thrust of the book, but find the author and his focus on optimisation as opposed to pleasure quite annoying. His alternatives to reading the news (go for lunch with your intelligent scientist friends! etc) also often seem quite specific to his life and circles and not particularly useful in a broader context

mindbloweress's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

2.0

While the main thesis of the book is interesting, I found the book to be terribly boring. The author repeats the main idea every chapter and almost on every page, uses even the same words and phrases to do so. It could be summorized in a couple of paragraphs maybe pages and it would have been enough. It felt bloated and superficial. Ironically, while advocating for greater depth than superficial understanding of the world, the arguments presented are exactly the latter - very short and underdeveloped. I feel that I haven't learned almost anything new and I actually agree with the author that limiting the consumption of news is a sensible idea. The most interesting questions were actually raised at the end of the book - how can we stay well informed as citizens in democracies and how can we hold those in power accountable through media. Those are for me the most interesting points in the book but the author failed to actually explore them beyond "just read more books and pay for investigative journallism". His approach is deeply individualistic, literally you have to stop reading the news, full stop. He criticizes journalists for reporting events without providing context but he does the same thing. A few people who stop reading the news will have zero impact on the situation. What we need is a societal discussion, education about media literacy, laws and regulations. These are complicated topics that he gives no space. How can one even write such a book without talking about media literacy at schools, supporting people of all ages in understanding the online environment. We need more cooperation between people, direct communication about media and its role in our societies. "Stop reading the news" reminds me of "reduce your carbon footprint and you'll save the world" - it is too small too individualistic a solution which distracts us and absorbs our attention while we should be focusing on passing laws and creating systems that allows us to decarbonize our societies. We need to think systemically, not individualistically. So, while I appreciated a few points in the book, I would not recommend it. Read a well researched article instead.