Why the world seems to fall apart

TL;DR

The world only seems to be falling apart because news media amplifies fear and drama, creating constant anxiety disconnected from reality.

Key Points

• 1.Constant news consumption manufactures anxiety about distant events. We check updates, form opinions, and carry dread with us daily — even about things geographically and personally irrelevant to us.
• 2.Schopenhauer warned that journalism inherently exaggerates. The philosopher identified this distortion long before modern media, recognizing that dramatic framing is a structural feature of news, not an exception.
• 3.Epictetus used a parable of two scouts to illustrate calm vs. fearful perception. Both see the same situation; the panicked scout sees disaster in every movement, while the calm scout concludes there is nothing to worry about — today's news operates like the fearful scout.