I first encountered this line of reasoning in Bulgakov's excellent 1925 book, Heart of a Dog when a doctor advises one of his friends:

  If you care about your digestion, my advice is—don't talk
  about bolshevism or medicine at table. And, god forbid—never
  read soviet newspapers before dinner.

It seems to me that it has long been known that unactionable information is not good for you.

Curiously, another HN reader expressed the same [1] feelings about HN.

[1] http://anton.kovalyov.net/p/soviet-newspapers/