To think it’s odd that Dfriend has no idea what’s happening in the news

[Rightlessmore]

Spoke to Dfriend and I mentioned how awful things are in Ukraine. I was surprised when she asked what I meant and it turned out she had absolutely no idea what was happening. This made me wonder how normal this is. To me it seems unavoidable as the information is everywhere, but maybe that’s just my life. I just can’t see how you can’t not know what’s going on and my teenage DC know too. I assumed everyone kind of knows what’s going on in the world at any given time. This Dfriend did seem misinformed regarding coronavirus too and now I can see why. I’m not criticising her - she’s great, but is this common?

I wouldn’t have thought so and if I’m honest, it would put me off her a bit. Does she have no interest in the outside world?

Yanbu. I sometimes avoid the hard news for a week or so to keep from going into a spiral of worry about it, but not the extent that I wouldn’t know anything is happening in Ukraine ffs.

That level of absolute wilful ignorance about the world seems kind of irresponsible.

I also have a friend that doesnt read the newspaper or watch the news . I dont personally understand how you can go through life like that, but then she doesnt get upset at the horrible things reported. Head in sand
situation.

I have a colleague who openly declares that she never watches or listens to the news. Although she’s happy to tell everyone else that their opinions are wrong when we chat about what’s going on!

Some people like to live in blissful ignorance. I'm one of them to an extent. I come on MN etc so have a grasp of what is going on in the world but I don't watch tv or listen to the news/buy newspapers.

It's constant doom and gloom and I just dont really want all the gory details. I'm assuming she must live quite remotely though to not have a clue about the war in Ukraine? Maybe she's just sick of talking about it? I became very reclusive during covid as I was just sick to death of it being the main topic of conversation with everyone.

I have been reeling ever since I spoke to her hence my post but didn’t know if I was being unfair. She does speak a lot about her DC (who are all teenagers now).

l don' t see what the big deal is, whats the point of her knowing? So she can sit and frighten herself to death about it, would that make you feel better ?
The news is toxic as well as innacurate and biased alot of the time. Its good that she doesn't live her life through printed headlines, she's probabaly much happier and healthier for it.
l hardly ever bother with the news, it creates a form of unnecessary hysteria, there are lots of positive things happening as well in the world but people can be controlled by fear, not happiness.
You need to wake up.

@Moonface123 I can definitely see where you’re coming from and I do turn off the news sometimes. But I don’t understand how you can literally not know anything about what’s going on in the world. I don’t know if it’s irresponsible to be that ignorant.

I must admit to checking the news for 2 minutes every morning and that's it. There is little I can do personally regarding Ukraine, cost of living crisis, covid etc so I am not prepared to bog myself down in worry by continually refreshing news sites.

I think it was healthier all round when we had bulletins perhaps four times a day rather than the continuous rolling news cycle we're currently subject to.

I do have a general idea of what’s going on in the world through social media etc but I don’t actively watch the news as I find it too upsetting. I made the mistake of watching the late news a few weeks ago but what I saw was so distressing (including a mum saying her final goodbyes to her 18 month old who had died in the conflict in Ukraine) that I decided to avoid watching in future.

I know there’s stuff going on, but that’s as far as it goes. I don’t watch/read/listen to the news. As some above said - blissful ignorance. I suffer with extreme anxiety and these things are happening wether I know about them or not so I choose to avoid where I can really.

You need to wake up.. Right then......

I'd be really shocked at someone who knew literally nothing about Ukraine. That kind of utter ignorance is just astounding.

Plenty avoid the news because it's fucking depressing. I can't say I blame them

It's weird she has teenagers and doesn't know about Ukraine, you'd think they would hear newsy stuff at school and talk about it.
I can understand opting out of the news cycle, I have spent a few really terrified weeks this year. But it is difficult to be a productive member of society if you are not informed about things which affect society. As an example, you may see an influx of "foreign people" in your community - if you are not aware of the horrors they are fleeing you are more likely to resent them, perhaps, or at least not understand why they are there.

My own personal feeling is that people like this are more than happy to talk about stuff that’s going to shit — but don’t want to educate/understand exactly why it’s going to shit. I have no problem personally with people who genuinely want to be oblivious but would prefer it if they were identified and lost the right to vote when they are so oblivious of why we are where we are at

It’s weird.

You will have people defend it quite vociferously - see the ‘wake up’ comment above.

There was a poster on here recently, who had only recently heard who Prince Phillip was (possibly his funeral threw his existence up, to this rock-dweller). They genuinely thought there was nothing wrong with that, and tried to have people believe they were well read / educated. It was boggling.

Even my 6 year old granddaughter knows what's going on in Ukraine!!

I find it extremely ignorant. I am a current affairs junkie so tend to seek like minded people and would struggle to be friends with someone who was so insular and uneducated

I ever watched the news as a teen or in my 20s it’s what OLD people watched

I used to actively read the news daily. I stopped during Covid because reading the same damn thing written 20 different ways was too much.

I haven't gone back to reading the news and I do find I miss out some things. Main breaking headlines are notified to me via my phone so I have a high level awareness, and if I chose to dig into something I will, but otherwise I no longer bother. I somewhat prefer the head in sand approach.

I have a colleague who obviously doesn't watch the news or read newspapers, but is aware of what's going on in Ukraine. She does come over as ignorant of key issues every now and again. I find it weird, but I listen to Radio 4 incessantly, so she probably thinks I'm weird.

Some people go to great lengths to remain completely ignorant of everything scary in the world.

Just after DD was born I wasn’t watching news for quite a while I was completely shuttered and devastated about her disability ( it’s unexpected). I understood that it’s wrong, it’s just a very difficult phase of my life. So I would understand if someone’s got a lot on their plate so basically has no time or energy for anything else. However it doesn’t sound like your friend is in a very difficult situation or anything so I suspect it’s a bit of selfish ignorance.
It’s interesting that it’s the same about coronavirus. I’ve got a couple of friends like this. I was surprised by their attitude towards coronavirus and then by their ignorance towards the war in Ukraine.

I feel quite envious of her.

I don't watch the news or read newspapers, it's not something I've ever done. I occasionally check the headlines online and if there's something life changing I should know about then I click and read it. I also use MN to keep up with current events but not to any great extent.

@NurseBernard

It’s weird.

You will have people defend it quite vociferously - see the ‘wake up’ comment above.

There was a poster on here recently, who had only recently heard who Prince Phillip was (possibly his funeral threw his existence up, to this rock-dweller). They genuinely thought there was nothing wrong with that, and tried to have people believe they were well read / educated. It was boggling.

It's amazing how backwards we are going in society isn't it?

Not that long ago, women were told not to worry about things, and to let the men worry about such things. Now we actually have women telling women to not worry about such things and to not know about it.