In 2017, I’m going to stop watching the news
I find that my personal happiness is a lot higher if I don&#x27;t watch the news.  I tend to be a rather analytical person who obsesses over ideas, and I find that ruminating over news or politics drains my energy.  Thinking about math or science for a few hours energizes me, but doing the same for social issues wears me out.<p>Part of the problem is that I feel most people underestimate the enormous complexity of social issues.  There&#x27;s so many variables and so many different types of interactions that my opinion on a lot of issues is &quot;I don&#x27;t have enough information&quot; or &quot;it&#x27;s too complex for me to pick a side&quot;.  A lot of people get upset if you say this to them though, and then they attempt to persuade you otherwise using some well-known argument that I&#x27;ve already researched in depth and found to be largely inconclusive.  It&#x27;s easier just to abstain from these conversations.<p>I don&#x27;t think the average person actually likes exploring topics in extreme depth to figure out &quot;the truth&quot;; the surface level conversation is much more interesting to them.  How many people have actually looked at the original studies on climate change themselves?  I have a hard time imagining how anyone who actually reads these studies could possibly deny the occurrence of global warming.  Strong opinions based on weak data seems to be the prevailing theme lately, but perhaps that&#x27;s just my perception.