The dilemma with the news is that some of its downright urgently important (COVID-19). There is plenty of important information that only comes through the news such as changes to the law, those can really impact you. Then there is the important into the future like the prevailing wind on privacy concerns.

It is mixed in with a lot of he said/she said and other nonsense propaganda that really isn't important. It is written to tickle those brain cells into thinking it is potentially urgent and/or important however. I think its hard to tell what will become important anyway, knowing about something years before it happens (like privacy changes regarding software that seem inevitable at this stage) is going to be relevant to some people and just knowing when the law changes probably isn't sufficient to do something about it well.

I don't read the news anymore, I RSS the areas and topics I am interested in and it becomes hard to miss the big stuff. But cutting it out completely is impractical.

You have to be an extremely privileged and selfish person to not need to know or care what’s happening in the world.

I’m sure the author’s friends and family enjoy being their only source of local information as well.

I imagine this person going to the store without a mask and being confused and indignant at being refused entry. “Oh but my 24 centuries of books didn’t say I needed a mask at the store!” and then driving home directly into a brush fire they didn’t know about because their family was tired of handholding them.

The author of this article was so incredibly dull to read. I gave up once they started listing of chapter headings one after the next.

Whatever point they were try to make is immediately dismissed by any casual reader with a single thougt: How will I know what's going on?

You are right that obtaining recent news is essential to survival.

That would only happen once wouldn’t it? Someone would probably explain what was going on.