In thinking about what to post today, a couple of different things came to mind. I recently wrote up a lengthy post lambasting all the “evolutionary psychology” nonsense you hear about in popular science mags and so forth, but after a while the whole topic just became so boring to me I figured why bother stirring up the pot. Then I was going to write about the recent Obama vs. Dobson kafuffle, but since neither character exactly gets my heart all aflutter, I decided to take a pass.

Then I realized something that’s increasingly been bothering me: our society’s addiction to controversy. With the 24 hour news cycle and the YouTube no-holds-barred coverage of every little tiny gaffe or strong statement, controversy is an industry and smears and attacks a modus operandi of the media. It isn’t their fault, of course — they publish controversy because people want it. People buy it in droves.

When’s the last time you read a news article talking about how folks came together for a common good to do something really lovely? Sure, you see something like that occasionally, filed as a “human interest” story — perhaps after some terrible disaster has struck. But, by and large, news is always bad news and our national conversation always negative.

I’m sick of it. I’m sick of the pundits. I’m sick of the stupid “watchdogs” that act like they’re protecting our interests. I’m sick of hearing about the latest leader’s screwup. There are better uses of my time and better ways to spend my energy.

Of course, by talking this way, I’m generating controversy over the idea of controversy. Ironic. Perhaps it’s just an inevitable aspect of human nature, and I should accept it for what it is. But somehow I’m still too idealistic to give in.