Giving up reading news will make us happier • Hacker News Board

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#131

Post by newscracker » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:06 PM UTC

I stopped getting the newspaper more than a year ago, and have consciously reduced using Facebook (which was already limited to specific topics related to "greater good", to put it in words that don't expose too much). Since I don't have cable at home, there's nothing blaring in the background with a regurgitation of the same stuff and flashy animations about some "breaking news" that's mostly of no practical value. Many a times it just increases frustration and stress over things you don't generally care about or can't really do something about. I don't mind not having anything to gossip about with co-workers. There's enough going on in general anyway, without mainstream news adding to it.

I've seen that life does actually get a bit difficult in certain ways when one doesn't keep up with news, especially anything related to taxation and other policies (related to real estate, automobiles). So I still check a few online news sites once every two days or so for the headlines alone.

In general, staying away from these sources reduces what I feel as "internal agitation" that usually bleeds into many other activities (while being in the background). I would anyday recommend people to get off standard cable TV and also news, and instead making choices that are a bit more involved. The mental peace thus obtained alone is worth it!

P.S.: Slightly related is giving up surfing the web itself, which my mind (that's been modified to have a low attention span due to years on the web) would probably benefit a lot more from.

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#132

Post by iambateman » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:07 PM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #122

FLUX-YOU wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've been in breaking news hell ever since Trump was elected and because eleventy billion scandals are being found.

Hate to point it out but the 24 hour news cycle and hell of continuous breaking news predates the Trump presidency by several decades. I recall being disgusted by it during the late nineties when cable news started being a big thing, but it probably started even before that.

Yeah. continuous breaking news made Trump, not the other way around.

He is the physical manifestation of "what if someone indulged the news-appetite of a whole population every day."

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#133

Post by hemantv » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:08 PM UTC

My biggest question is how do you keep up if you cut news. I would definitely like to quit checking HN also but FOmo of new technologies keep me coming.

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#134

Post by godelmachine » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:14 PM UTC

Moru wrote: post #24

some_account wrote: post #8

Haven't watched the news in at least 5 years. Actually I haven't watched TV in the last 5 years even. So I don't have ads bombarding me, or fear and propaganda coming in every day. Highly recommended. You have one life. Make sure it counts as a happy one.

I never bought a TV when I moved to my own appartment many years ago. Now when I visit people having their TV on in the background it feels like overly loud. Am I getting more sensitive to noise too? It feels like information overflow and the only thing I can do is give up and just disappear into the TV. I never regret not buying that TV 25+ years ago. Now we do have one but it's only used for selected programs a cou…

I will soon be buying my own house and have vowed that the idiot box won't be a part of it. Also, I am going to make this abundantly clear to my future wife - whoever she may be.

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#135

Post by CogitoCogito » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:22 PM UTC

donw wrote: post #48

It's not just news. I cut out mainstream media several years ago, and noted a definite improvement in my psychological well-being. As of the end of last year, I stopped engaging in mainstream social media. So much better. I still keep a Facebook account for Messenger and Events, but don't post, read timelines, or participate. Not only do I have more time to read books and learn new things -- made pita bread from scra…

Hearing so many people complain about the time they spend on facebook has gotten me thinking of how I spend my own time on the internet. I don't really sit on facebook or any other common social media sites to any significant degree and many friends think I'm almost a luddite. But simultaneously I feel like I'm waaaaaaay too distracted by information online. But for me it's no different than it was 20 years ago. There are a million forums out there with super interesting information. In fact over the years I've only become more specialized in my information consumption in ways that are _almost_ good. I.e. I tend to keep up on different technical news and read into technology in general pretty deeply and this has had positive effects on my career. And so it's sometimes good because I get some good knowledge, but at the same time if I'm reading about how to implement stuff in FPGAs to avoid doing my taxes I'm definitely not making much sense in the long run.

I'm trying to get myself more organized and to instead focus on slightly longer projects with determined goals, but I really have a hard time breaking my habits of information ingestion. In many ways the internet has helped me grow intellectually so much, but simultaneously I feel like I lose any sense of present and physical presense. And it's just so hard for me to focus and do the mundane things that I find uninteresting.

I think I'll post this and then close out HN for a bit. Traveling for the weekend so maybe I can sucessfully limit myself to only actually necessary internet usage and avoid any consumption of unimportant crap. We'll just have to see...

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#136

Post by kev6168 » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:27 PM UTC

Regarding news, I have had this self-imposed rule:

* Only check out the first screen of any news web site. No scrolling down, and no clicking links.*

Implementation details: I keep around 10 news sites in a bookmark folder. Through out a day, I right click on the folder and open all of the sites at once, then spend on average 5 to 10 seconds on each site. Do this three or four times each day.

Been pretty happy doing this for a few years now.

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#137

Post by jackhack » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:29 PM UTC

monster_group wrote: post #79

jensvdh wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or talking to people in general? That seems incredibly odd.

I asked him about if he could not see the smoke. He said the wind direction took the smoke away from his house and some hills obstructed his view. He had just moved into the neighborhood so he wasn't friends with the neighbors quite yet.

Wow! I would think the logjam of people stuffing their cars with possessions and getting the hell out of there would have been a clue that something, possibly, was happening that might warrant some further investigation.

There's apparently a fine line between "not ardently following the news" and "not paying attention at all."

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#138

Post by randomsearch » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:30 PM UTC

ekianjo wrote: post #60

randomsearch wrote: post #59

I think that being ignorant of current events in the world around you is irresponsible and selfish. It undermines democracy and prevents you from addressing problems in society where you could make a difference. A better suggestion is to focus on higher quality news sources: I'd recommend Reuters (try the iOS app) and the Economist, and Channel 4 News in the UK.

> It undermines democracy and prevents you from addressing problems in society where you could make a difference. There are plenty of people undermining democracy while being well aware of what's happening around them. Moot point.

Because another person is doing something bad does not allow you to absolve yourself of social responsibility.

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#139

Post by cpt1138 » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:30 PM UTC

monster_group wrote: post #70

The problem is that some news is relevant. One of my friends has given up reading or watching any kind of news altogether. At first this seems impressive but when I asked him about how far his house was from the wildfire, he was like "Umm - what wildfire?". He was oblivious to the fact that country's biggest wildfire was just three miles away from his house. He is a very smart and successful guy and it really jolted…

The vast amount of non-relevant news makes it hard to wade through it. I agree that any relevant news will make to you via other means (visual, word of mouth, etc.).

There is a reason that news is like this. Adam Curtis and Oh Dearism is a good watch.

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#140

Post by avtar » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 3:34 PM UTC

gowan wrote: post #119

scottmsul wrote: post #103

> Out of the 10,000 news stories you may have read in the last 12 months, did even one allow you to make a better decision about a serious matter in your life, Yes, there was an article on HN a couple weeks ago. Pork treated with nitrates increases the chance of colon cancer as much as smoking increases the chance of lung cancer (but pork treated with salt is ok).

interesting... can you provide a link?

Possibly https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16499149