-“Have you heard the news today?” Okapi strides excitedly into the clearing, which is a favourite meeting place for conversations.
Zebra comes trotting casually from the other direction and stops a few steps in front of Okapi, measuring its counterpart with a critical look. -"You mean the daily disaster report? The latest stories about all the terrible things that have happened?’
Okapi looks puzzled and pauses for a moment. -"What do you mean? So you haven't heard that...’
Zebra interrupts impatiently. -"Please take a break! Take a nice deep breath." The stern expression on its face relaxes. -"I keep hearing all sorts of things. But I'd like to point out that overconsumption of bad news can have serious consequences.’
-"What do you mean? Are there side effects?", Okapi asks with a slight sneer, mildly offended by the interruption. -"After all, it's important to know what's going on in the world. Otherwise you can't orientate yourself and don't know what to do."
-"I agree with you", admits Zebra. -"However, you also have to consider what reactions the overload of negative content triggers in you. If it motivates you to do your bit to make the world a better place, that's a good thing, of course.
Sometimes the problems and threats plunge you into a depressive mood, which then totally paralyses you. That has often been my experience.’
-"And what do you suggest? So you should just avoid reality to feel better, or what?" Okapi asks defiantly.
-"I mean, you have to dose the confrontation with these messages in such a way that you remain capable of acting. And I can only do that, for example, if I'm not overwhelmed by all the disaster scenarios that leave me feeling helpless. I then have no energy left to do anything. But that's necessary."
-"That actually sounds like a paradoxical situation", Okapi ponders.
-"I see it as a daily challenge" says Zebra. -"It also reminds me of the question of what content is communicated at all. What is shown to us and what is not and how are our gaze and attention directed? It's not as if the news creators don't follow the economy of attention. There are always topics and details that can't be found in the headlines."
Okapi sways its head back and forth. -"You're alluding to the idea of knowledge distribution as a gesture of domination. You're figured out."
-"Yes, knowledge is not independent of power. Information distribution is used strategically. I think that's a fundamental idea. It's also a challenge. We have to think for ourselves again."
Okapi sighs. -"I don't think you can avoid that. This thought also draws attention to the fact that we always have to be clear: Who is telling what, to whom and why?"
-"You could also agree with Hannah Arendt when she writes, that if you want to prevent people from acting in freedom, you have to prevent them from thinking, wanting, producing, because obviously all these activities imply action and thus freedom in every mind, including the political one[1]", adds Okapi.
-"Indeed, I agree", confirms Zebra, and adds admiringly: -"Do you know the quote by heart?"
Okapi stands up proudly. -"Yes, because I've just read the book. The clarity of her thinking fascinates me. And we don't just have to think for ourselves, we have to perceive for ourselves and recognise our feelings. That's what it's all about."
-"So be it" mumbles Zebra.
And Okapi replies: - ‘And so it is.’
[1] Hannah Arendt, "What Is Freedom?", in "Between Past and Future: Eight Exercises in Political Thought", originally published in 1961 by The Viking Press