I've got an ambient spacey up-tempo techno music playing loudly in my headphones as I work, so I can't hear what's going on around me.
But I certainly see it, and now I remember why I always used to get a table here facing the front glass of the restaurant, not facing towards the back.
There's a TV here. It's on. And the news is playing.
I'm in one of the safest cities in the world, Taipei, and yet it's constantly running through crime, criminals, muggings, break-ins... I don't know exactly, my Chinese wouldn't be good enough to understand each story if I could hear the TV.
Which I can't, because of the techno.
And yet, still, on the corner of my vision is the TV... sensational, cutting back and forth between security camera footage, mugshots, and police sergeants expounding on the nature of evil and criminality to the populace.
This stuff is poisonous. I'm not even engaged with it, it's just on in the background periphery, and I can feel it shifting my mood ever so slightly.
What happens to people who watch this every day? It must instill fear into life, suspicion, paranoia. In Taipei, you're safe. They've built a culture and society where you can rest assured that yourself, your elderly relatives, and your children don't have to worry.
Sure, keep aware. But don't live in a state of heightened paranoia.
And yet, from the TV, you wouldn't know it. You'd think you live in a warzone.
One of the best decisions I ever made was to get mainstream news entirely out of my life. I figure friends or acquaintances will mention truly important things. And when I hear about an issue -- a financial crash, a crime spree, a war -- if it seems important, I'll go study the history of that event instead of staying on top of the news cycle.
They don't care about giving you an accurate picture of what's going on. They care about ratings. They pick the worst thing that happened and sensationalize it. If nothing truly bad is happening, they'll dip lower into the chain of negative events and sensationalize that.
"Are your children at risk? A new trend is shocking the nation. Tune in at 11 to watch. And now a word from our sponsors."
Garbage. Turn it off. Read books and spend time with people you care about.