Are news junkies prone to hyper-vigilance, and is that really a bad thing?

Without going into too much detail, I was told today that I was hyper-vigilant and that people who are hyper-vigilant may show tendencies for paranoia. I told him that paranoia is a funny thing. For example, if two years ago I walked around and told everybody that Dick Cheney had been in CIA headquarters meddling with information in order to deceive the Congress into voting for war, they would have tackled me, put me in a straight jacket and thrown me into a padded cell. But now it's just yesterday's news.

Yes, that paranoia is a funny thing. Must be an occupational hazard for us newsjunkies.

But I really like that word, "hyper-vigilant." How can that be a bad thing in these times?

I like the sound of "Hyper-Vigilant"!!

And he said it like it was a bad thing.

When so many people aren't paying any attention AT ALL, It is vital that the few, frantic attention payers not lose focus.

It is the price of Liberty, after all.

I suspect there will be an attempt to diagnose hyper-vigilance as a disorder, just like homosexuality.

:)

Obviously being a news junkie helps if you're looking at the right sources.

Fox News addicts, for instance, must be worse off than alcoholics. Their brain has to be rotting from the core.