Almost everything that everybody says is false. Some large fraction of those things are actively harmful. Memetic ideas will warp your thinking and emotions until you are assimilated and drained of originality. The information landscape is an incredibly hazardous place for the unprepared mind. Here's my advice: - Do not read the news. People will frequently tell you that it's important to be "informed" as a "citizen of the world" -- this is virtue signaling. Do *not* read the news. The only up-to-date information you need is traffic, weather, and emergencies. Everything else will filter through to you if it's important enough. - Importantly, you do not need to be aware of the day-to-day happenings in the world in order to, for example, donate money or otherwise have a positive impact. - Never watch gory or otherwise shocking videos. - Block all ads, obviously, but you can go further. You can block those GDPR cookie popups and distracting bits on websites (like twitter's "trending" box). - Turn off all notifications except direct messages and calls from people you know personally. - Unsubscribe from email newsletters. - Social media is mostly safe as long as you avoid algorithmic feeds. Be careful who you follow. Block words and people who evoke any sort of negative emotion. Sometimes negative emotion is good for you, but there's no need to be feeling bad while using social media. - Do not consume media that claims to represent reality. Obvious fiction is usually fine, and old stuff is fine, but e.g. watching a TV show about the purported behavior of contemporary people is dangerous because it can lead you to internalize a false narrative. - Do not do anything parasocial. Do not follow streamers or celebrities too closely. - Do not consume media that serves as a replacement for real human interaction. For example, do not develop emotional relationships with AIs, do not play dating simulators, do not watch anime with self-insert protagonists. Better to be lonely than to be anesthetized. - Keep people who offer unsolicited advice at a distance. Such people usually have an agenda, whether implicit (projection, shadow, etc) or explicit (selling products). Some of these people are extremely shrewd and calculating; exercise great caution, especially if you don't have that type of mind. At best you might slowly transform into a low-fidelity copy of that person. Are you sure you want that? - Yes, this includes me. I'm a pretty honest person, and I currently make zero dollars from any of my writing, but you still shouldn't internalize what I say without chewing it first. It might be wrong! - If a lot of people are doing something similar, keep in mind the possibility that they've been infected by a meme. - College admissions, moving to the city, dating, employment, having children, partying, buying a car, doing strange exercises or diets, wearing unusual clothing, obsessing over some piece of information - I have benefited from being extremely skeptical of doing anything that isn't either 1) an ancient tradition 2) evidently good in a way that I can explain logically 3) potentially serendipitous - Throw out everything you own that has any negative memories associated with it. - There's little reason to hold on to records of the past that lack sentimental value. You can, for example, schedule emails and messages for automatic deletion.