Following the Familiar!

I’m a news junkie.  But in this 24/7 news world, the torrent of events is a never-ending cascade.  There’s no way I can pay attention to everything.  What, then, do I focus on?

I’ve noticed that what interests me are subjects that I’m already familiar with, and especially those with which I have a personal relationship.  For example:

There is a lot of turmoil in Libya these days.  Do I care?  Not a lot.  I’ve never been there, know little about the place and have little emotional response to their problems.  Not far away is Aleppo, a focal point of the Syrian civil war.  Do I care about what’s happening there?  Yes.  I was there not long ago, enjoyed myself and am distressed when I see the places I visited being destroyed.

Less dramatic, but still always on my radar screen is India.  I lived there, have an affinity for the country and the people, care about what happens.  So put a story about India, even innocuous, in front of me and I’ll likely read it.

As with life itself, we spend a lot of time reinforcing, validating, what we already think or know.  To be sure, we can make room for something new, but it must be compelling enough to get over the high bar we put in its way – the bar of the familiar.