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Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

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Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#331

Post by jxramos »

burkaman wrote: post #84
enraged_camel wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I don't think the desire to mitigate uncertainty explains it. The reason is simple: fear is about overplaying and exaggerating the risks and uncertainty. Fear of terrorist attacks is a great example. If you live in the US, that means that over the past 15 years you have been more likely to be killed by a lightning strike than a foreign terrorist attack. Yet a lot of people shit their pants with regards to, say, I…

Because terrorism is more unpredictable. If you don't want to get struck by lightning, stay inside when it storms, or at least don't stand in the middle of an empty field. If you don't want to be killed by a terrorist, don't go outside at all?

that's a great characterization, that essentially human behavior is inherently more unpredictable than natural phenomena/behavior.

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#332

Post by uncletaco »

heartbreak wrote: post #275
uncletaco wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah. He's referring to Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Also, this entire conversation is really ignoring how networks like Fox News and NPR work. When they play to their audiences they're not really concerned with biases, they're concerned with playing to their audiences. Each network will probably guarantee its listeners/viewers 2-3 hours of solid reporting per day. For Fox News its when Brett Baier and S…

I think you're referring to Chris Wallace and Shep Smith. Not Brett Baier.

I'm very much referring to Brett Baier. He's hosted Special Report with minimal controversy over the last 8-9 years. I would add Chris Wallace in if not for the fact that his primary hosting duty is Fox News Sunday, which is Fox's Meet The Press competitor and a talk show.

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#333

Post by pnathan »

boona wrote: post #328
pnathan wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I pay for New Yorker and NY Times. WaPost is pretty ok. I also read BBC and Deutche Welle, as well as scrabbling through bits of Le Monde and the francosphere. generally if it's free, you're getting what you paid for.

I would suggest that you're only getting the facts that align their chosen narrative, and the facts are being presented through a lens that limits your understanding of the world. An example I like to use is minimum wage. The very term "minimum wage" on it's own pulls you towards a certain conclusions. Who the heck doesn't want minimum wage? But what if I asked you "Should it be against the law for low skilled worker…

I would suggest that the narrative I choose is "educated people not committed to right wing ideology". :-)

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#334

Post by plaguuuuuu »

40Alpha wrote: post #95
komali2 wrote: post #37

I'm slowly trimming away the means I acquire news, because it's all becoming so editorialized. Twitter is bombarded with bots and flamewars, reddit is a lost cause, and news.google.com is mainly driven by larger syndications that have mastered the "Big Headlines Sell" strategy. That leaves HN and my little local papers, Mountain View Voice and its ilk. Great for local stories and tech news, but I feel like I'm missin…

I find the Wall Street Journal to be quite solid if you're willing to fork over ~$350/yr... Well worth it. Just a side note for Reddit - cat and dog pictures are overrunning the community.

Reddit is an entertainment platform, not a news outlet

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#335

Post by Simon321 »

neillyons wrote: post #201
komali2 wrote: post #37

I'm slowly trimming away the means I acquire news, because it's all becoming so editorialized. Twitter is bombarded with bots and flamewars, reddit is a lost cause, and news.google.com is mainly driven by larger syndications that have mastered the "Big Headlines Sell" strategy. That leaves HN and my little local papers, Mountain View Voice and its ilk. Great for local stories and tech news, but I feel like I'm missin…

There is a good book called "7 habits of highly effective people" and it talks about "circle of concern" and "circle of influence". It basically says be mindful of the time you spend concerning yourself with things you can't do anything about. Spend your brain cycles on things you can influence in the world. E.g. Trump. Reading about him is a waste of your brain cycles. What productive thing are you actually doing wi…

Informed democracy is a waste of brain cycles? You have the power to vote, you can participate in democracy. I don't think that's a waste of brain cycles. I do agree you shouldn't worry too much about things you have no control over. But the government of your country is not one of those things.

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#336

Post by [deleted] »

neillyons wrote: post #201
komali2 wrote: post #37

I'm slowly trimming away the means I acquire news, because it's all becoming so editorialized. Twitter is bombarded with bots and flamewars, reddit is a lost cause, and news.google.com is mainly driven by larger syndications that have mastered the "Big Headlines Sell" strategy. That leaves HN and my little local papers, Mountain View Voice and its ilk. Great for local stories and tech news, but I feel like I'm missin…

There is a good book called "7 habits of highly effective people" and it talks about "circle of concern" and "circle of influence". It basically says be mindful of the time you spend concerning yourself with things you can't do anything about. Spend your brain cycles on things you can influence in the world. E.g. Trump. Reading about him is a waste of your brain cycles. What productive thing are you actually doing wi…

[deleted]

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#337

Post by Filligree »

banned1 wrote: post #301
Filligree wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The way humanity uses that word can sometimes be complicated, but don't fall into the trap of thinking that truth is: http://yudkowsky.net/rational/the-simple-truth/

Good one. But what happens when you have two competing truths?

You discover that "truth" is the wrong word to describe at least one of them.

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#338

Post by tertius »

taurath wrote: post #324
tertius wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they may have some worthy criticisms at first, but to be worthy to be on their show everything they air must have a huge slant they can fight against, or else they won't talk about it. They call themselves "media analysts" so by definition they only talk about whatever nonsense the media is spewing this week. By that very nature they focus on the things you mention. That's they're goal.

Why yes - but you also replied to someone complaining that the news had become so editorialized. I don't feel like they are a good example of how one can get non-editorialized news!

Agreed. They focus on deconstruction.

So for those who would like to see current events (i.e. through lens of the media) for what they truly are. May be useful for a subset of people who view the mainstream as largely chasing dollars. Which the OP certainly falls into.

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#339

Post by banned1 »

Filligree wrote: post #337
banned1 wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good one. But what happens when you have two competing truths?

You discover that "truth" is the wrong word to describe at least one of them.

There are two truths: 1) People need jobs today 2) Coal drives global warming

Which one do you act on today?

Those are the type of discussions people in decision making roles are wrestling with, which may be a different perspective than that of arm-chair decision making like the one we do here in this thread.

Re: Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product

#340

Post by banned1 »

graphitezepp wrote: post #277
humanrebar wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ...the xenophobes of our society I'll argue that there are "xenophobes" on the left, it's just that they consider middle America the foreign land. They identify more closely with formally educated people from other countries than Americans who enjoy hunting, processed food, revival churches, etc. The bitter clingers, deplorables, etc.

Increasingly it feels like, at least to me, the last group it is socially acceptable to harshly generalize is rural Americans.

I agree. Another group that is socially acceptable to generalize is "whoever does not think like me and my bubble people." (noting that my statement applies to both bubbles)
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