Do We Really Need to ‘Stay Informed’? Rethinking a Cultural Belief.

Growing up, I often heard my grandmother say, “You need to read the news. You need to stay informed.”

It wasn’t just a suggestion, it felt like a moral commandment, an unspoken law of what it meant to be a responsible, intelligent adult.

And for a long time, I didn’t question it. After all, how could something so widely repeated be anything but true?

But as I grew older, and as the world itself continued to shift, I began to wonder:

Is “staying informed” really what we think it is?

Or is it a cultural belief that’s been passed down, accepted, and rarely examined?

The Power of Cultural Conditioning

What my grandmother shared wasn’t just personal advice. It was part of a larger cultural conditioning, an idea so deeply ingrained that few people stop to ask if it still makes sense.

This is how many social norms are born.

We inherit them. We repeat them. We enforce them, often without even realizing it.

“Stay informed” became one of those unwritten rules of adult life, bundled up with “pay your taxes” and “eat your vegetables.”

It sounded responsible. It sounded smart. It sounded necessary.

But in today’s world, where the news cycle is often driven by fear, outrage, and entertainment rather than truth, the old idea of “reading the news” to become wiser and more grounded doesn’t always hold up.

Sometimes, reading the news doesn’t make us more informed.

It makes us more anxious.

More divided.

More distracted from the deeper truths of life.

When Uninformed Is Better Than Misinformed

In this environment, there’s an important distinction we must make: sometimes being uninformed is actually wiser than being misinformed.

When the information we’re fed is filtered through agendas, sensationalism, or half-truths, consuming it can be more damaging than abstaining altogether.

If you must choose between clarity of mind and emotional stability versus absorbing a steady diet of fear, confusion, and manipulation, then choosing to remain uninformed about certain things isn’t ignorance.

It’s intelligence.

It’s discernment.

Because it’s far better to admit “I don’t know” than to cling to falsehoods or half-truths and believe you do.

The Meme Effect

In psychology and cultural studies, there’s a term called memetic transmission — the idea that beliefs and behaviors spread through societies like mental viruses, not necessarily because they are true, but because they are catchy, socially rewarded, or emotionally sticky.

“Stay informed” is one of those memes.

It gets passed along because it feels responsible.

Because “everyone” says it.

Because no one wants to be seen as ignorant or out of touch.

But not all information is valuable.

Not all knowledge is wisdom.

And not all “staying informed” actually leads to a better, fuller life.

The Mythos of the Good Citizen

We live in a mythos, a collective narrative, that says a “good citizen” is someone who knows what’s happening in the world at all times.

But I would argue that a wise citizen, and a wise human being, is someone who chooses carefully what they consume, why they consume it, and how it shapes their energy, clarity, and purpose.

If the news you consume pulls you away from hope, clarity, service, and creativity —

If it leaves you feeling powerless, angry, or hopeless —

Are you truly “informed”?

Or have you simply been drawn into someone else’s agenda?

What It Means to Be Truly Informed

Being truly informed, to me, is not about knowing every headline.

It’s about knowing your heart.

It’s about understanding timeless principles that don’t change with every news cycle.

It’s about cultivating wisdom, not just knowledge, and presence, not just information.

It’s fine to be aware of the world.

But awareness is very different from being bombarded by noise.

There is wisdom in discernment.

There is power in selective attention.

And there is profound freedom in remembering:

You are not obligated to consume everything society throws at you.

You have permission to protect your mind and spirit.

You have permission to opt out of the mental noise.

Closing Thoughts

Yes, my grandmother was right in one way:

We do need to stay awake, aware, and engaged with the world.

But that doesn’t always mean reading the news every day.

Sometimes, staying informed means staying connected to truth, love, and wisdom —

and letting that be the guide for how we live, lead, and serve.

The world doesn’t just need more people who know the latest headlines.

It needs more people who know themselves.

It doesn’t just need more informed people.

It needs more wise ones

– Russ Kyle