An actual New Yorker headline from last week: "How Should We Think About Kanye West’s Tweets?" It’s an easy answer: Nothing. We should think nothing about them. Because they do not matter at all. (The only thing worse than the New Yorker headline was this Rolling Stone headline: "Why Kanye West's Pro-Trump Tweets Are a Real Threat.")
C’mon, people. There are things to care about and there are things that don’t need to be cared about. The deliberately provocative—or possibly insane nonsense—tweets of a musician gearing up for an album launch? Not one of them. And they are definitely not a ‘threat’ to anything.
The next time you see a headline in the news or a discussion topic on ESPN asking “What should we think about _____?” “What’s wrong with _______?” “What’s the right take on _____?” The answer is nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. The purpose of this kind of “news” isn’t to inform you, it’s to waste your time. In fact, it’s a trick that preys on your ego—ego that’s just as real and vain as Kanye West’s. Remember Epictetus: “If you wish to improve, be content to be seen as ignorant on certain matters.” Or better yet, “If you wish to get things done, to be happy, think deeply, and study philosophy, then don’t have an opinion about nonsense. Just ignore it.”
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