I'm sure there's some psychological, or anthropological, or maybe even evolutionary, explanation for our fascination with other peoples' tragedies. Maybe it's our negativity bias. But I'm with you on this. As I told a coworker once, I really do not want to hear about the little girl who fell into the well. "Is it going to make me feel any better?" I asked. "Oh, no, it's awful," he said. "Then, no, I don't need to know." My coworker was very frustrated with me.