The High Cost of Laziness

Here's a post from Echidne that really makes me mad:

Do you remember the big fuss the media made over the 1999 study by Kawachi and others which found that greater gender equality appeared to be correlated with better health for both sexes in the United States? How about the even bigger media fuss caused by the 2005 study by Chen and others which found that gender equality appeared to be correlated with better mental health for women? And surely you remember the excitement in the media last year when we all learned about the Swedish study which showed that both men and women have better health when roles are shared more equally at home?

You don't recall? Neither do I, because there was no such fuss at all. Studies with those findings are not mentioned in the popular media at all or only fleetingly. But when a Swedish study in 2007 suggests that greater gender equality leads to less health for both sexes, what happens? You guessed it. The media is on the study right away:

Warning: feminism is bad for your health

By Roger Dobson Published: 25 March 2007

I am, in fact, quite lazy. I want my information spoon fed to me. Nice succinct headlines are nice. The problem is that when I rely on headlines and news media I am not getting all the information. I am getting whatever they feel like spoon feeding me that day. I am willingly letting them have a major say in any of my decisions and thoughts, because I base my decisions and thoughts on the info available to me.

If we are interested in knowledge and truthiness, we must make an effort to dig for all the relevant information. I know this sounds like hard work. Perhaps, when we make the effort to feed ourselves, we can choose to eat something other than baby-food.