Information Diet
Limit inputs, screen for quality, and make time to digest what you consume
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 98%
Harari compares abundant information with abundant processed food: once scarcity ends, consuming more no longer guarantees a better result. His response is an information diet built around quantity, quality, and digestion. First reject the assumption that every available item deserves attention. Reduce the volume, especially inputs engineered around fear, anger, or greed, and choose sources more deliberately. Then reserve time without new material so the mind can process what it has taken in. Harari's longer meditation retreats are a personal, intensive version rather than a requirement. The transferable practice is to create enough quiet to notice habits and emotional reactions. Instead of repeatedly rehearsing the story that caused anger, observe how anger operates in the mind and body, then decide which inputs and habits to retain.
Origin
Extracted from The Diary of a CEO. Yuval Noah Harari compares information abundance with processed-food abundance and describes periodic disconnected meditation retreats as his own intensive information fast.
Core principles
- 01More information is not automatically better
- 02Abundance increases the need for selection
- 03Fear, anger, and greed can be engineered to capture attention
- 04Understanding requires time away from new inputs
- 05Observing a reaction can be more useful than replaying its trigger
How to run it
- 1
Reject the More-Is-Better Rule
Treat attention as limited rather than assuming every additional article, post, or video adds knowledge. Decide what purpose your intake is meant to serve.
Pro tip Name the decision or understanding each recurring source supports.
- 2
Audit the Inputs
List the sources and feeds that occupy your attention. Mark which repeatedly rely on fear, anger, greed, or low-value repetition.
Pro tip Review actual screen activity rather than estimating from memory.
Watch out Emotional content is not automatically false; evaluate quality and relevance separately.
- 3
Reduce the Volume
Remove or limit the least useful inputs and keep a smaller set you can evaluate. The goal is selective consumption, not total ignorance.
Pro tip Start with one recurring feed rather than redesigning the entire day at once.
- 4
Create Digestion Time
Schedule a period with no new media so ideas can settle. Use the space to summarize, question, or connect what you already consumed.
Pro tip A short daily block can apply the mechanism without copying Harari's long retreats.
- 5
Observe the Reaction
When an input triggers anger or fear, shift attention from endlessly replaying the object to noticing the reaction itself. Record what captured you and how it affected subsequent choices.
Pro tip Describe the reaction before interpreting or defending it.
Watch out The episode offers a reflective practice, not individualized mental-health treatment.
- 6
Revise the Diet
Keep sources that produce useful understanding and remove those that repeatedly create noise without value. Repeat the audit as habits and platforms change.
In the wild
Harari says he takes a 30-to-60-day meditation retreat each year without a smartphone, internet, books, or writing paper. He describes the retreat as time to digest experience, notice habits and addictions, and become acquainted with how his own mind works. This is his personal practice, not a duration prescribed to listeners.
→ Removing incoming information creates extended space for reflection.
Illustrative example: an operator unfollows two outrage-heavy feeds, keeps one reliable briefing, and reserves 20 minutes after reading to write the implications for current work. When a story provokes anger, he notes the reaction before deciding whether it requires action.
→ Less intake produces a clearer link between information and decisions.
Common mistakes
Replacing Quality With Volume
Harari rejects the assumption that more information automatically produces more truth or knowledge.
Copying an Extreme Retreat
The long retreat is Harari's personal implementation; the reusable mechanism is limiting input and creating digestion time.
Replaying the Trigger
Harari says repeatedly rehearsing an anger-provoking story can keep attention on the object instead of revealing how the anger operates.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for people whose news, social media, or research intake feels abundant, noisy, or compulsive.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal as a substitute for professional support when distress, anxiety, or compulsive behavior is severe or persistent.
From the transcript
“we basically need to go on an information diet”
“we actually need more time to digest the information”
“you can start to understand what is the mind how does it function”
From the episode
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