Stop Reading the News: A Manifesto for a Happier, Calmer and Wiser Life is a 2020 nonfiction book by Swiss author and entrepreneur Rolf Dobelli. It challenges the modern habit of continuous news consumption, arguing that disengaging from the news cycle leads to improved focus, well-being, and perspective in an age of information overload.

Dobelli contends that daily news, while seemingly informative, distorts perception, fuels anxiety, and weakens concentration. Drawing on psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy, he likens news addiction to a cognitive pollutant that disrupts deep thinking.

The book suggests that by disengaging with the news we regain mental clarity and time for more meaningful learning and engagement.

The book is written as a concise manifesto composed of short, persuasive essays. Each section dissects a different cost of habitual news consumption: reduced attention span, heightened stress hormones, shallow understanding, and misplaced moral urgency. Dobelli supports his claims with research insights and personal experience, noting that he himself has avoided reading news for over a decade.

Key reasons to stop reading the news:

• News is mostly noise: Most stories expire quickly and rarely impact your life.
• Negativity bias: Media amplifies bad news to attract attention, distorting your perception of risk.
• Time sink: Daily news consumption can waste up to half a day per week.
• Stress response: Constant exposure triggers cortisol and adrenaline, harming physical and mental health.
• False sense of being informed: You may believe you're engaged, but you're often just reacting to headlines.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48581422-stop-reading-the-news

I'll give one more reason that isn't in the book. You can't build things if you are engaged with the news. News puts you in a passive role as a consumer. It's your birthright as a human being to build things. If you aren't building things, something is very wrong. You should diagnose what is holding you back. One possibility. The news.