It’s never been easier to fall down a rabbit hole.
One headline leads to another.
One tweet becomes a thread.
One video becomes three hours.
Before you know it, your attention — and your mood — has shifted.
We live in an era where information is infinite, outrage is amplified, and conspiracy thinking spreads faster than critical thinking. If we’re not intentional, our attention gets hijacked.
The real question isn’t whether rabbit holes exist.
It’s whether we choose to go down them.
The Attention Economy and Conspiracy Thinking
After my second COVID shot, I found myself scrolling through the news. Not because I needed information — but because I was looking.
The tone was familiar: division, outrage, certainty.
It struck me how much of modern discourse is fueled by being against something.
Why does being “right” feel stronger when someone else is “wrong”?
Conspiracy thinking thrives in that environment. It gives simple answers to complex problems. It creates enemies. It rewards certainty.
And it consumes attention.
Learning how to avoid conspiracy thinking doesn’t mean ignoring the world. It means being intentional about what we feed our minds.
Because what owns your attention shapes your worldview.
Rabbit Holes Can Be Constructive — or Destructive
Not all rabbit holes are negative.
When I search for new music, I fall into creative rabbit holes — tracing producers, arrangers, instrumentalists through liner notes. One connection leads to another. A web forms. Discovery expands.
That kind of curiosity builds knowledge.
But there’s a difference between curiosity and compulsion.
Ask yourself:
- Is this exploration building me?
- Or is it draining me?
- Do I have influence over this outcome?
- Or am I just absorbing noise?
The Stoics were clear: we control our responses, not external events.
Scrolling endlessly through outrage doesn’t increase agency. It often reduces it.
Stop Doomscrolling. Start Rebuilding.
We spend hours consuming narratives we cannot change.
Meanwhile, the one thing we fully control — our growth — often gets neglected.
Imagine redirecting even half that time toward:
- Learning a new skill.
- Reading a challenging book.
- Improving communication.
- Practicing better listening.
- Strengthening relationships.
- Building something meaningful.
Changing the world is complex.
Changing yourself is hard too — but it’s within reach.
And personal growth compounds.
Intellectual Humility Is Liberating
A few weeks ago, I read Think Again by Adam Grant. It reinforced something freeing:
There is power in knowing what you don’t know.
Intellectual humility isn’t weakness. It’s adaptability.
As adults, we often protect what we already know. We avoid being beginners. We equate not knowing with incompetence.
But lifelong learning requires comfort with uncertainty.
In Beginners by Tom Vanderbilt, the reminder is simple: growth happens when we’re willing to look unpolished again.
Children embrace curiosity.
Adults defend certainty.
Which one grows faster?
The Lifelong Learning Mindset
If you want to avoid rabbit holes that drain you, replace them with rabbit holes that expand you.
Practice:
- Becoming a better learner.
- Becoming a better listener.
- Becoming a better communicator.
- Becoming a better partner, leader, and friend.
Knowledge evolves. What’s true today may shift tomorrow. That’s not threatening — it’s liberating.
There is no finish line.
No trophy for being permanently right.
Only progress through curiosity.
A Better Question
Instead of asking:
“Who is wrong?”
Try asking:
“What can I learn?”
Instead of absorbing outrage, pursue understanding.
Instead of rehearsing certainty, practice curiosity.
The world changes when individuals change.
So will you enjoy not knowing?
What are you curious about?
What skill will you build?
What growth will you pursue this week?
Life is a journey. You don’t win it. You learn it.
Choose your rabbit holes wisely.
In the meantime, enjoy this simplification from my friend Jack Butcher.
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I write and share because these thoughts inspire me to grow, not because I'm right. I hope they inspire you. Have you enjoyed this? I'd love for you to share your thoughts and/or have you share with a friend.
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