Is Any of This Worth Paying Attention To?

We ought to ask ourselves: Is any of this is worth paying attention to? - present company included. With all that cascades upon us day and night, it's more than likely possible that the vast majority of it is simply a waste of time.

And a waste of time is, really, a waste of life.

Which does bring up the point of what is the purpose of life, specifically your life? Don't worry, we won't launch into a religious of philosophical lecture here. But, seriously, should we all - each of us - know that answer to the question. And if not the answer, then shouldn't we ask the question and pursue and answer?

Whatever your particular answer, isn't it reasonable to assert that most of what lands on our eyes and ears likely doesn't deserve the attention we - at least sometimes - give it?

This past week, we were treated to this 1 month suspension/cease fire of the war with Iran...or what is another installment of the Big Orange Guy declaring the war over, with the likely assertion that we (the U.S. government) "won" the war? 

See how just this one item instantly comes at us with various attachments, none of which are based on any ascertainable facts - at least facts that any of us regular folks have access to? So without any facts to back it up, when we come across assertions about the war with Iran, do we have any basis upon which to believe or not believe them? And without any basis for belief or unbelief (disbelief?) should we give them any space in our already overworked brains?

After all, most of us have to work for a living, right? Unless born with the proverbial silver spoon in our mouths, work likely takes up a good chunk of our time - typically the biggest chunk. Those of us who are married have spouses that would like some attention and love, no? And if we have children, there's a lot that requires attention, especially as they are growing up. And even if they are grown and moved out of our homes, their adult lives are not separate and apart from us, right? When things aren't going well for them, don't we worry about them and, if possible, try to help them in some way - or at least give them our time in any way that might help?

Then there's the typical domestic chores that need our attention and action. Start with taking out the garbage, and go from there. Unless you're blessed with a maintenance free life (whatever that might mean), there's always something that need attending to, isn't there?

Even folks who have the interest and habit of engaging with things political should be on guard here. After all, taking a stand for or against whatever happens to be going on in the world of politics should require some set of facts that form our opinions. If not, then we're just venting some unfounded speculation about what's going on, or what should go on. Or maybe we're venting our emotions due to frustration with what we perceive to be wrongheaded policies or specific actions taken by our federal and local governments. And while an occasional vent, or perhaps even a rare rant, may be unavoidable for most of us, should be be mired in an endless cycles of debate or - more likely - argument about things we really haven't taken the time to parse through, analyze, and arrive at a conclusion based on the facts as we know them?

(Time to take a breath!)

And, as you may have figured out from past posts, all of this applies not only to political news, but to most if not virtually all "news" that we find on our various gadgets and social media platforms. 

With all the time so many of us devote to these, if there's little of substance or, frankly, benefit to ourselves or our families, what justifies taking up our precious time with it all?

Simply put, life is short. And if we have some sense of purpose for this life, knowing that it is short, shouldn't we attend mostly to those items that consistently address the real purpose of our life? With that in mind, is it even possible that the avalanche of media - be it of the main stream, alternative, or social variety - should be engaged more than on a selective and occasional basis?

(Of course, all of this applies to financial markets media as well. No surprise there.) 

And if any of this makes any sense to you, then please don't default now to AI. More folks seem to be doing this, of course. But does AI address any of what we've discussed today. Does it provide those facts that are mostly missing in our engagement with the digital media that has us in its grip? 

Maybe some of you think it does. If so, maybe you've substituted precious hours of previously engaging with the palette of media offering with, now, hours spent engaging with Chap GPT or Claude, or, well, whatever. And maybe you think that now there's something worth paying attention to.

If so, maybe it's time to take a deep breath, re-read the above, and ask yourself how much of this applies to AI as well.

Or maybe not.