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Anatomy of a Moral Panic

idlewords.com

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Re: Anatomy of a Moral Panic

#41

Post by spaceseaman »

sugarpile wrote: post #27
whorleater wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> month and only about topics that matter What topics matter? The ethnic cleaning of Rohingya muslims? The latest javascript framework? Your local city elections? Trump's legal gaffs? The earthquake in Mexico? Basically every subset "topics that matter" is available, yet there are arguments like this one, bemoaning the fact that "topics that matter" is somehow an unfilled void. Don't shift your unwillingness to becom…

The ones that affect me directly.

If you truly think that the repeal of ACA won't affect you directly, I suppose there's nothing anyone can do to convince you that the news does matter.

Re: Anatomy of a Moral Panic

#42

Post by adrianratnapala »

The real story in this mess is not the threat that algorithms pose to Amazon shoppers, but the threat that algorithms pose to journalism. By forcing reporters to optimize every story for clicks, ...

Because newspapers never did this kind of sloppy reporting before the interweb thingy.

Re: Anatomy of a Moral Panic

#43

Post by avip »

I see 2 claims:

  1. The suggested materials are not for building bombs.
  2. No one would be radicalized to build bombs by following shopping recommendations.
Since uncharacteristically, he did not provide very good support to any of the above claims, I feel free to opt-in with my own made-up opinion:

  [1] is False. The materials ARE for building bombs. The "bearing balls" ARE what author says they are not (using an extremely unconvincing argument), and Mr idlewords is mistaken wrt how much data is used to build recommendations engines.
  [2] is True

Re: Anatomy of a Moral Panic

#44

Post by inopinatus »

Cleisthenes wrote: post #22
cisanti wrote: post #20

Well written piece. I stopped reading news after Trump got into office and I have no shame about it. It feels great and I don't I miss out on anything. When people talk or ask me about politics I just say I don't know because I don't read. They make s surprised face and then continue talking and arguing about absolutely pointless topics and about the upcoming apocalypse. I just hope someone tells me an hour beforehan…

That was your lesson from this? Stick your head in the ground and pretend politics is pointless? Ignorance of politics is a luxury afforded only to citizens of authoritarian regimes. You live in a democracy (assuming that discussion of Trump in politics means you live in the US). Politics is how society chooses to make and use government. People pretending they are morally superior or lead better lives through ignora…

I don't think the OP's granularity preference of "monthly" for current-affairs consumption deserves such an strong rebuke. I have limited interest in the toxic modern ouroboros of the so-called "news cycle" and the hysterical yelping of politicians of any colour. I don't believe I have a civic obligation to follow the tedious, self-serving minutiae of political horse-trading. My time and energy are allocated to making things, and real-time news is a productivity-destroying distraction.

But I still like to be informed. A monthly summary of goings-on in the world, written specifically according to my general (but not immediate) interests, why, yes, that'd be something I'd pay for as well.

So this isn't "ignorance of politics": when the next election comes around, then I'll make my assessment based on what I've read, and play my part in choosing the next government.

In the meantime, I've got work to do.

Re: Anatomy of a Moral Panic

#45

Post by pmyteh »

chris_wot wrote: post #36
dwaltrip wrote: post #21

Is there no robust way to hold publications accountable for carelessly peddling bullshit? I fear it will be incredibly difficult to improve the existing incentives.

The UK has a press council.

The UK has had a succession of self-regulatory bodies which have conspicuously failed to prevent the worst criminal impulses of Fleet Street, let alone make an impact on merely poor reporting.

It's also, interestingly, had some of the most outrageously claimant-friendly libel laws in the world, which hasn't made much of a difference either (though defaming somebody rich and bloody-minded can get pretty expensive).

Re: Anatomy of a Moral Panic

#46

Post by eridius »

avip wrote: post #43

I see 2 claims: 1. The suggested materials are not for building bombs. 2. No one would be radicalized to build bombs by following shopping recommendations. Since uncharacteristically, he did not provide very good support to any of the above claims, I feel free to opt-in with my own made-up opinion: [1] is False. The materials ARE for building bombs. The "bearing balls" ARE what author says they are not (using an extr…

The article did provide reasonable support for claim 1. Thousands or tens of thousands of people would have to buy the combination for it to be recommended, and aspiring terrorists don't usually purchase their terrorism supplies in a manner that makes it trivially easy to identify them (since Amazon knows who its customers are).

The article also provided a far more plausible explanation for the recommendation than people building bombs.

Re: Anatomy of a Moral Panic

#47

Post by forapurpose »

Typhon wrote: post #31
Cleisthenes wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was your lesson from this? Stick your head in the ground and pretend politics is pointless? Ignorance of politics is a luxury afforded only to citizens of authoritarian regimes. You live in a democracy (assuming that discussion of Trump in politics means you live in the US). Politics is how society chooses to make and use government. People pretending they are morally superior or lead better lives through ignora…

You can pay attention to politics, you can do politics without necessarily following obsessively every little happenstance of things. Once you know some politician is a racist crook, you don't need a reminder every day. You especially don't need a remind from people who will give the same amount of space to the president's crooked necktie or and to the healthcare reform. What you mostly need is coordination to fight…

> The american media ... bad

This is too easy an answer to serious problems. It is similar to saying 'all American developers are bad', because a lot of my software is buggy. It depends on the developer and on the news source. Some news sources are exceptional, though like all human endeavors they are always far from ideal. Some are far better than others; to lump in the National Enquirer with the New York Times is to "completely fail to disentangle the serious from the merely ridiculous."

Re: Anatomy of a Moral Panic

#49

Post by adricnet »

qq66 wrote: post #30
cisanti wrote: post #20

Well written piece. I stopped reading news after Trump got into office and I have no shame about it. It feels great and I don't I miss out on anything. When people talk or ask me about politics I just say I don't know because I don't read. They make s surprised face and then continue talking and arguing about absolutely pointless topics and about the upcoming apocalypse. I just hope someone tells me an hour beforehan…

A good service that mails you once a month about things that matter is a subscription to a proper news magazine like _The Atlantic_ or _The Economist_.

_The Week_ is quite good (US or UK). They have people read many of the things you don't have time to (including _The Economist_ :) ) and pull highlights from them across a broad range of topics.

Re: Anatomy of a Moral Panic

#50

Post by forapurpose »

cisanti wrote: post #20

Well written piece. I stopped reading news after Trump got into office and I have no shame about it. It feels great and I don't I miss out on anything. When people talk or ask me about politics I just say I don't know because I don't read. They make s surprised face and then continue talking and arguing about absolutely pointless topics and about the upcoming apocalypse. I just hope someone tells me an hour beforehan…

What you are saying is that you are leaving your part for someone else to do; thanks.

If you were involved you would know that the number one reason that bad things - and many are obviously bad - happen is that so many people don't pay attention. They let the sharks and con artists run rampant over them, use them like suckers, and of course they complain later.

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