A month ago I noticed I was becoming too agitated over things I have no control over. I realized this was a waste of my energy, so I stopped. I posted On Tuning Out American Politics, where I made the case for escaping the vortex of American insanity.
I mostly wrote that for me. Quitting something publicly can help maintain accountability, which it has.
It feels like I quit a drug. Opening my phone, scrolling the timeline, posting my “takes”, then getting immediate reactions is a dopamine-driven cycle I admittedly got addicted to.
I have a big account. Seeing thousands of people agree with my opinions validated them. It felt like I was changing minds. I fell prey to the illusion that I was actually doing something.
To become politically ignorant, I had to remove political content from my algorithm. I blocked all political slop merchants and muted all political topics.
Isn’t it beautiful?
If there’s one feature on X that works well, it’s the mute button. Muting a word removes the topic from the timeline entirely, forever. I haven’t seen one sad Gaza video because I muted the word on October 7, 2023. Poof — gone. What happens in the Middle East is none of my business.
Becoming politically ignorant was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I should have done this a decade ago. Below are the tangible benefits I’ve experienced over the last month and some reflections.
