Ignorance is not always bliss nor is it a virtue. There is no end to knowledge, as there is always more to discover regardless of the subject, person or era. Therefore, the distinction between having knowledge and wisdom is all the more important.To simplify matters, we can say that a person wants to know about their environment. Of course the limits of this environment differ from person to person greatly as well as our point of view. In the narrowest sense, this environment is the person's body. Of course in broad terms it would be the universe, both physical and metaphysical ones.Our bodily state often eludes our eyes if unaided. That means we need someone or something to bring us the news, someone to be the announcer of knowledge.This is where a person's relationship with daily information begins. We follow the news. We want to know what is going on in the world around us. We want to make decisions based on knowledge of the situation at hand. Then, we shape our lives according to it.While this impulse has always existed in one form or another throughout history, it is hardly a stretch to say that the current era acts as the perfect enabler. In the past, the environment we cared about was definitely much more narrow whether because of a lack of the knowledge needed to broaden our horizons or simply because we lacked the means to receive the news. This changed a great deal with the invention of the printing press and newspapers being brought to our fingertips. Radio soon followed, with television on its heels. All we needed to gain information was to turn on the evening news. However, the biggest development in our era in this regard is, without a doubt, the information highway. In other words: the internet. A quick 10-minute search allows us to become instantly aware of any event from halfway across the world. Not to mention the existing knowledge that already sits in the web, waiting for us to stumble upon it. But, I digress.A pathological relationshipWe are not the ones who usually produce this news. We are usually not in control of these news sources since, quite simply, we cannot control them. We can only be influenced by them as we are exposed to them. Just like in media.Another thing to realize is that what is promised is rarely what is delivered. Even if we strive to read or view every piece of news that is written, photographed or recorded, it doesn't necessarily mean that we know everything that is going on around us.This leaves us with a single avenue to follow. We must reexamine our relationship with daily information and news sources. We mustn't lose sight of the reason why we actually need the news. We mustn't simply gobble up anything that is offered to us and accept it as absolute truth; rather, we must form a health relationship with the media.Above all, we have to be conscientious and cautious in order to get exactly what we need from our chosen news sources.Considering this, as soon as the casualty relationship is broken, our relationship with the news turns into something pathological especially in instances where the flow of information is especially rapid and intense. If we consider the number of news sources and what they produce, increasing their flow makes this goal all the more difficult to achieve.We can define addiction as a loss of control caused by excessive dependency on something. While this can be an object, it can just as easily be a phenomenon or even an abstract notion. Afterwards, the addicted person will most likely think that he or she cannot continue to live – at least in an effective manner – without this thing.Modern day addictions take many forms. After all, the internet, modern technology and video game addictions are among the most common and problematic addictions facing our current generation. Research offers insight into the causes of these addictions, which affect the physiology and psychology of people in the same way that a drug addiction does.With all these points in mind, is it possible that many of us possess a similar type of dependence on news? Could it be that we are addicted to these news sources? Do we feel inadequate, depraved or desperate when we don't read or watch the news? Are we losing track of life while dabbling in the news?Can we talk about a phenomenon called "news addiction?" If the answer is yes, what are the indicators? What lies behind the phenomenon? And of course what would be its results?Regardless of your answers, it is high time we started the debate on the issue.

An expert opinion

Since we started the debate with a combination of questions relating to the existence and possible ramifications of news addiction, this is only the first part of the debate. We need more input moving forward so an expert opinion on the matter would certainly not go amiss. The following is the expert opinion of Ahmet Gedik on the subject:

"Behind every addiction lies the desire to feel the same indulgence, satisfaction and emotion. Today, the internet and news addiction show us the tendencies of escape when faced with stressful situations with unlimited news websites that can be accessed with smartphones and tablets in the form of nonfunctional perusing. These individuals have a higher ratio of loneliness and depressive emotional status compared to those who do not have an addiction to daily news and don't follow news websites. They also have significant problems when it comes to forming relations with other people. Individuals with this type of 'news addiction' can also be observed with a very intense level of worry along with a concern about missing out on the day. This state of worry only increases as the days pass and individuals start to follow the news and daily developments from other social media platforms. Of course, there are numerous benefits of the internet as a source of infinite information along with news articles. But there is another point to consider. During the course of our daily lives, fickle news flows and information dumps produce a perception mechanism that is impossible to control. Correctly interpreting or recording this flow is quite a difficult task for a normal human mind. Therefore, when the human mind must deal with this situation, it increases the pleasure limit as the mind tries to absorb new information. The cause of concern in this regard is that the process could produce new addiction areas that hinder the flow of daily lives," says Ahmet Gedik, expert psychologist.Statistics of SeptemberAs we come to the final Reader's Corner page for September, it is time to make good on the promise we made one month ago when we said changes were to come.

In our Sept. 5 article titled, "A small change to the Reader's Corner" we said that "We will also be providing statistics at the end of each month and season regarding which categories managed to occupy the top-10 list while providing commentary on the preferences of our readers. The choice to utilize sub-categories in the categorization of news articles will also be made in accordance with our web editors who choose the category in the first place."

Thus, despite our shallow pool due to the recent Qurban Bayram (Feast of the Sacrifice) holiday, also known as Eid al-Adha, and there being no Reader's Corner publication on Sept. 12, let us move on to the statistics from this month's most-read categories.

Regarding the Politics as a whole, the combined efforts of our web team and Printed Edition Editor Mehmet Çelik managed to bring this section to the top of our list with 13 news articles no less. If we break down this number into sub categories, we see that five of them were about the "War on Terror" while another three were on" Diplomacy." The remaining articles had no sub-category.

Our columns pages had the most activity this time with regard to sub categories. With seven articles out of a total of 30, let us congratulate our writers as well as Column Editor Meryem İlayda Atlas.

Our "World" section came in third place with three news articles; two of which were from the "Mideast" subcategory and one from "Islamophobia."

The "Life" section had two entries, one of which was a "Feature." Similarly, the sections titled "Turkey" and "National" had two entries as well. Finally, "Gallery" and "Business" also had one entry a piece.

With the statistics of the first month complete, we will continue to keep an eye on the numbers and a more in-depth analysis will follow at the end of fall.