Asklemmy

One person cannot fix every problem in the world. But you can do your part.

One answer could be for you to learn and practice philosophy alongside your learnings of world news. In particular, stoicism and stoic philosophy can allow you to watch these external events and consider them as they are, but with the understanding that these things reside outside of your control which preserves your feelings and self from being affected by them. It really brings more power to you through anything you go through or experience.

Philosophers Who Addressed This Question

1.) Albert Camus

• Work: The Myth of Sisyphus (1942)

• Argument: Camus argues that life is absurd, meaning it is full of suffering and chaos without inherent meaning. However, he suggests that one can resist despair by embracing life with defiance and by finding meaning through action and creativity.

• Example: Camus likens human existence to Sisyphus, who is condemned to roll a boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down. Camus proposes that we must “imagine Sisyphus happy,” finding joy in the act of persistence itself rather than in outcomes.

2.) Martha Nussbaum

• Work: Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions (2001)

• Argument: Nussbaum defends the idea that emotions like compassion and anger can be powerful motivators for justice but need to be tempered with rationality and self-care to avoid burnout. She advocates for a philosophy of practical engagement, where one maintains emotional investment in the world while creating boundaries to protect one’s mental well-being.

• Example: Nussbaum might suggest that instead of being overwhelmed by global problems, you focus on one specific issue you can influence—channeling compassion into tangible actions.

3.) Viktor Frankl

• Work: Man’s Search for Meaning (1946)

• Argument: As a Holocaust survivor, Frankl emphasizes the importance of finding purpose even in the face of suffering. He argues that meaning can be found in how we respond to suffering, whether through action, creativity, or how we endure hardships.

• Example: Even when facing immense global crises, Frankl might suggest asking, “What specific actions can I take to create meaning and contribute positively, no matter how small?

Recognize the problems which you have the power to solve, and the ones you don't. Fix what you can with mindfulness and compassion, accept what you can't with emotionless calm. Reevaluate periodically.

Let someone curate your news for you and don't doomscroll. I suggest PBS Newshour or one of the three major broadcast news programs.

The cure for grief is action. Go to a DSA meeting, join a mutual aid society, volunteer at a community garden. Help out at a food pantry. Put the values you believe in back into the world.

You know you're going to die right ? How do you deal with that ? Philosophically, Stoicism has some of what I need for coping.

I'd also suggest that journalism is mostly interlectual trash that clutters your mind. Really important events will find their way to you.

An example, I'm not an American (i did live there back in the mid 1990s, before I relaised it wasn't for me) and I will likely Vote Green until I die. I'd prefer a livable biospbere and little better treament of minorities. Others prefer the opposite but their entreaties to get me to think their way won't work so why would I bother listening?

Journalism isnt really about reporting "news" but selling advertising.

Build community locally, spend time with friends and family cultivating relationships, do something generous for someone else, volunteer for a charity or activism, build an interest in a creative hobby that exercises your imagination. Follow your curiosity and our common interests in discovery and exploration through education and experimentation.

I've blocked as much news out of my life as I can manage with the exception of some financial news. That includes blocking all the news communities on Lemmy. Things still slip through, but I also push myself to just ignore the bits that I still see and move on with my life. I'm much happier as a result. In terms of being aware of big news, if its a big enough deal, the fine folks here at Lemmy will create memes to let me know.

I spend a ton of my time working in my community. It really helps. It's a lot of work and a lot of time and I'm exhausted all the time but it's worth it

As we scroll through the endless inbox of our news feeds, there's a tendency not to want to spend a lot of time on most items, because there's an endless stream of them. So we tend to process each thing quickly, react instantly, and move on to the next one. Training yourself to slow down the reaction part and focus on just observing the information first, can help not build up an ever-growing mountain of depression and cynicism.

I look at it as it's going to get worse. Guaranteed. But, as long as I can stand up and be ready for the people who are going to be persecuted when they need it. Helping my local community. Just maybe I can make a difference to the people around me who need it.

Donating and volunteering works great.

Join a political party that aligns with the change you want to see. Also belonging to a few leftist orgs to effect your local city.

If your a right winger then sorry its a case of living with that low mood.

Compassion fatigue is a thing. You can try for some Buddhist state of Nirvana that would likely take a lifetime to pursue... Or you can start curating your input. Stop doom scrolling, look for positive science news and the like. There's plenty of positivity out there still, it's just not algorithm friendly.

This may have missed the point of your asking, but I wrote it so I'm posting it lol my apologies if it's not what your looking for:

I'm gonna advise a thought on what I had to do. I love being informed. But I reached such a level of depression and anxiety of the future that I had to do something.

So I stopped. I told myself it doesn't have to be forever, just a break. Took about 2 weeks of much less news consumption, forced myself to be brain-dead as much as possible. It led to a few conclusions:

The world turns. No matter what you do, ppl do insane shit. Taking a break for you doesn't mean stupid shit stops happening, but it makes it less the center of your world. You don't have to own it.

Life is about a lot more than what's going on in the news cycle. I have friends who never look at a newspaper, and they're far happier than I am overall. Just a thought.

The kicker - I still knew what was going on. The media milks a big story over days and weeks, so you can easily come back to your favorite website and pick it up quickly. Haven't missed anything that I could have changed regardless haha.

A great comment I saw a while back: put down the phone for a few days, and you realize it's still 2005 outside. The world is boring, but blessedly so. For your health, let it be 2005 for a bit.

Now, I just read the headlines unless something really grabs my attn. Reading the news makes many problems that aren't yours a you problem. Overall, I've realised it's the little things that make life better. Do the little stuff - help in your community, give the homeless guy a fiver, call your mom, ask the cashier how her day is (and genuinely care about her answer). If you're up for it, maybe then undertake some of the actions other ppl are suggesting about political action, volunteering, etc.

You can't pour from an empty cup, my friend. Take care of you first and the world becomes a little better ☺️

I'm only one person. I cannot fix all of these problems because these problems have to be fixed by a collaborative effort through a unified group to make anything we want work. I did what I thought I could by voting, I did what I could by spreading the message with my own voice about the things I know with what I saw going south in this country. But again, I can't fix everything.

So, I can't worry about things I have no power in fixing, as much as I'd like.

Don't fall into doomerism - news companies are companies, and negativity gets people on their platforms for much longer than positivity, it's easy to get addicted to it. Set time limits or limit the amount of news you consume per day/per week.

Recognize that caring about something requires mental energy - if you had 1 friend who asks you to care about their hobby or learn a bit more, then you might agree, but if you have 20 friends with different hobbies asking the same thing, then there's no way you can care about all of them. Similar thing applies to the news, recognize that you can't care about everything and try learning how to stay informed without giving up lots of mental energy stressing about things you can't really influence.

It's admirable wanting to keep up with the news, but it also can be a bit of a trap and does require a degree of skill to not fall into what you describe in your post.

Act to change it and be at peace mentally knowing that you have dedicated your life to the struggle and you have done all you can.

Watch the telly. Television tends to keep people somewhat informed but apathetic.

If they'd make people actually feel the horrors of the world, then people would stop watching. They know this so what they do is deliver it all in a way that promotes apathy. They do show you things but structure it so that the implicit message is: don't worry, do watch but whatever you do, don't worry, it's all fine, business as usual. "New report comes out, humanity is destroying the planet faster than ever before, biodiversity is plumetting [...] (jingle) there's a genocide going on and we are supporting it [...] (jingle) in other news: a baby panda was born at this zoo. [..] (jingle) now for the weather. . [..] (jingle) thank you for watching, see you tomorrow."

What you'll find is that despite you being somewhat aware of current events, most of the time it all feels like an abstract thing that doesn't really worry you. Seldom does anything you see on the telly push you to do anything. "Some important news just reached me through the telly, that means that I will now do so and so...", yeah right. I do nothing, maybe I walk to the fridge to get a soda, since ads do have calls to action. The news has a subliminal call to apathy. So I sit back down and continue to watch my entertainment.

I just try to channel Gramsci:

"You must realize that I am far from feeling beaten…it seems to me that… a man out to be deeply convinced that the source of his own moral force is in himself — his very energy and will, the iron coherence of ends and means — that he never falls into those vulgar, banal moods, pessimism and optimism. My own state of mind synthesises these two feelings and transcends them: my mind is pessimistic, but my will is optimistic. Whatever the situation, I imagine the worst that could happen in order to summon up all my reserves and will power to overcome every obstacle."

and this dude was dying in a fascist prison and able to hold this outlook. i find it inspiring

Ignorance is bliss - dogs are the happiest people I know. We should all strive to be more like dogs.

Get involved in direct action in your community. Linking up with an org or group that does real community service and solidarity can help prevent you from feeling helpless and falling into that depressive spiral.

Help at a soup kitchen, provide homeless care kits, work a food/clothing drive, work with a crew to clean up gang tags from walls, pick up litter, build bird boxes, etc.

Seeing your community get a little better can do a lot for your mental health.

Remember that dispite the horrors of our species, we have accomplished some pretty incredible things. Just 200 years ago, we were still putting leaches on people and not washing our hands before performing medical procedures.

Now, we use microscopic lasers to correct blindness, cure certain types or deafness by implanting magnets into skulls, we can deliver and grow infants that are born several months too early to full term with minimal complications, and we can treat scores of diseases that would have been a death sentence just 200 years ago.

The Capitalist scum would have you believe that nobody would have done those things unless they made money doing it, but that's a lie and projection. They wouldn't have done that if it didn't make them money, because they are evil and without empathy.

But they don't represent the human spirit, what we are truly capable of when we work together for the common good.

The greatest accomplishments of our species aren't when we compete and fight each other. The greatest accomplishments happen when we cooperate with each other. Don't let the rich and powerful convince you otherwise.

It's tough. Just keeping up with "trying" to be aware is a full-time stressful job (there's literally only so much time in a day to absorb information, some have less/more). That would be hard even if everything was awesome news all the time in a world so connected.

It helps to realize that it's always been this way, the world is a busy busy place. Everything going on, all the time, never stopping. It doesn't pause, you sleep and the world continues on without you. It's overwhelming, but kinda cool at the same time.

So for me, I take a step back with "mindfulness". It's just a word, but what you're going for is a feeling. For instance, if you've been on here a long time, turn off your screen for a minute and look at your surroundings. Don't let your mind wander back to the screen. Literally give your mind a second to realize you are just existing in a small space. Look at your wall and pick out a detail you haven't seen before, or a tree (anything to let your mind think about something else).

Take some deep breaths or stretch or feel your toes, there's lots of different techniques people use. But, you're going for the disconnected feeling. If you're breathing and still thinking about what's online you gotta refocus to your immediate area. That argument or event is not in your vicinity. You are not helping by stressing out over it. Don't be a fire-fighter who's in a firehouse worried about all the houses catching on fire.

You can compensate your mind's news addiction, by realizing you are better prepared to interact and absorb information online if you're more stable. At some point your cognitive mind is tapped out but you're still scrolling from habit, or you're less likely to get your point across with proper communication if you're not in your best mindset.

By just giving your mind a little room to breathe you'll start figuring out what you want to do with that time. Local organization, hobbies, chores, your mind will try to fill that void with something and you'll be able to hopefully choose something that helps your current overwhelming feeling. Fire-fighters check equipment, play games, shoot the shit, etc. They're still extremely helpful when the time comes.

From recent events I believe online discourse is an important part of society interaction. Look at the media attention over the CEO, instead of just demonizing him, they had to spend time trying to fight all the online support and looked like fools during it.

Reading through all the other doomposts I felt obligated to share my view.

I read national/international news every day, and I'm still optimistic about humanity's future.

First off, I don't bother with local news at all. That really is just a cesspool of crime reporting. My dad summarized local news pretty well: "someone was murdered today, and heres some footage of blood on the pavement."

As far as national and international news goes, I read it because I think it's interesting and it's good to stay informed, but you can't use it as a barometer for how the world's doing, because news is just inherently negative. It doesn't mean the world is actually doing bad!

Which of the following do you think would get reported as a headline?

"Indonesia enjoys another year without a tsunami"

"Thousand killed as tsunami ravages Indonesian coast"

"Global poverty rate continues slow, steady decline"

"Millions at risk of starvation as African crops fail"

"Good news, no new deadly infectious diseases this year"

"Scientists raise alarm over spread of bird flu"

I think maybe it's helpful to think of the news not as objective reporting on the state of the world but rather like a police blotter that just logs bad things that have happened. And I think it's perfectly fine to tune it out and just live your life. If you're interested in a particular issue, like homelessness or an election maybe look at a less sensational information source like Wikipedia or something.

Also, just a little mini-rant: the two types of people who are most negative about the state of the world are religious missionaries and leftists. Because in order to convince you that the world needs a savior they have to convince you that we aren't on a path to do it ourselves. So, maybe steer clear of news on Lemmy as well haha