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Why We Should Watch Less News

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Re: Why We Should Watch Less News

#71

Post by 40acres »

Not sure I agree with this. After the 2016 election I was really wired into news. I watched a lot of CNN and was tuned in the 24 hour news cycle, after a couple of months I decided I didn't really like the way this news was delivered but still wanted to be informed.

I turned to podcasts more and now listen to podcasts on policy, politics, technology and economics and I feel much more informed than the average citizen and intellectually stimulated. I think we should work on increasing the quantity of quality news as opposed to telling people to stay away from it.

Full disclosure, here's my current media "diet"

- Hacker news of course.

- NYT subscription

- NYT The Daily podcast (news of the day)

- NPR Politics Podcast

- Marketplace Podcast (economics)

- Vox's Ezra Klein Show (wide range of policy experts interviewed)

- Vox's The Weeds (conversations on political / economic policy)

- Vox's Worldly (foreign affairs)

- Marginal Revolution (economics)

Admittedly it's a left leaning viewpoint and I'd like to find more conservative outlets but haven't been able to find interesting ones. I listened to Sam Harris for a while but over the past year he's shown a deep flaw w.r.t his views on race and unwillingness to be challenged.

Re: Why We Should Watch Less News

#72

Post by chrisco255 »

40acres wrote: post #71

Not sure I agree with this. After the 2016 election I was really wired into news. I watched a lot of CNN and was tuned in the 24 hour news cycle, after a couple of months I decided I didn't really like the way this news was delivered but still wanted to be informed. I turned to podcasts more and now listen to podcasts on policy, politics, technology and economics and I feel much more informed than the average citizen…

If you're into cheeky humor, I rather like Greg Gutfeld's The One, for a conservative podcast.

Re: Why We Should Watch Less News

#73

Post by turc1656 »

beat wrote: post #6

Recommended reading list thread! What have you read this year that you think others should read as well? Here's a few of mine that really stand out. Factfulness , by Hans Rosling The Ethics of Ambiguity , by Simone de Beauvoir Designing Delivery , by Jeff Sussna (re-read) The Cooking Gene , by Michael Twitty Binti , by Nnedi Okorafor The Philosophy of Spinoza The Silk Roads , by Peter Frankopan

The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt

EDIT: Thanks for the list. I think I'm going to check out The Silk Roads - seems like my type of book/topic.

Re: Why We Should Watch Less News

#74

Post by PAClearner »

beat wrote: post #67
MrEfficiency wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Social media is just as untrustworthy as traditional news. Friends sharing news/propaganda from various outlets. Fake users astroturfing on reddit/twitter/HN/facebook/insta. I dont know what the future is, but I'm positive its going to be first-hand sources. At least that way, you are going to be skeptical the entire time and that persons reputation is at stake.

We kind of have that first-hand future already. Consider Trump's twitter feed. He speaks directly to the public, in a simple and direct way, largely immune to editing/manipulation. Sure, it's insane , but it's the most direct communication we've ever had from a president, and that's kind of impressive. But in general, the problem with first hand sources is credibility. How do you know you can trust a first hand sourc…

Reading a full unedited transcription of a speech from a president is also pretty direct...

that's existed for 150 years at least

i.e. https://yorkblog.com/yorkspast/read-the-actual-article-next-...

Re: Why We Should Watch Less News

#75

Post by beat »

PAClearner wrote: post #74
beat wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We kind of have that first-hand future already. Consider Trump's twitter feed. He speaks directly to the public, in a simple and direct way, largely immune to editing/manipulation. Sure, it's insane , but it's the most direct communication we've ever had from a president, and that's kind of impressive. But in general, the problem with first hand sources is credibility. How do you know you can trust a first hand sourc…

Reading a full unedited transcription of a speech from a president is also pretty direct... that's existed for 150 years at least i.e. https://yorkblog.com/yorkspast/read-the-actual-article-next-...

Unfortunately, most people lack the patience for such things. I remember in 2016, Hillary would give deeply detailed hour-long policy speeches about all sorts of stuff, and then her critics would claim she didn't have detailed plans. Sigh. (Not a question of whether you agree or disagree with them, but nobody rational writes and delivers an hour-long policy speech that's a straight-up lie about their intentions.)

Re: Why We Should Watch Less News

#77

Post by BeetleB »

asdkhadsj wrote: post #34
abhiminator wrote: post #19

I recall reading and saving (in my Instapaper) a super relevant essay[0] written by a Swiss entrepreneur/author -- Rolf Dobelli -- that talks about how news systematically alters your 'risk-map' of the world, thus making you worry about things that'll almost never affect you while distracting you from things that actually might; as an example, the author talks about how terrorism is overrated and chronic stress is un…

> He suggests going on a news diet by mindfully curating the news content one plans on consuming, and thinking about its relevance to everyday life I've actually wanted to do this for multiple things too. Ie, I want to spend ~15m a day getting a curated list on various topics that interest me. From tech, programming, etc. I don't want to feel I'm "missing" anything. My desire stems from not wanting to miss tech relat…

>If I had a reliable aggregator I hope to reduce my FOMA style addiction.

Frankly, you are merely feeding that addiction. Treat the fear, don't placate it. This becomes easier as the years go by. After you spend a lot of time tracking something (news, Reddit, whatever), do the following exercise:

1. Write down how much it benefited you. You (hopefully) will be able to list a few ways it really helped you. That is what is keeping you addicted. Now try to come up with a marginal value over time. Yes, you benefited a lot, but what did you gain out of it per hour?

2. Look at those around you who are not addicted. How are they disadvantaged by not receiving the gains you outlined in step 1? Are they living a less content or full life? Now re-evaluate all those benefits you listed. What did they do for you (and for your mental well being)?

3. What have you been missing out on because of your addiction? Once your life gets busy (job, parenthood, whatever), then everything has an opportunity cost. What valuable activities could you be partaking in if you didn't feed the addiction?

As a former news junkie, my (perhaps unpopular) perspective: Spending only 15 minutes a day on the news will leave you quite misinformed. There isn't a path of moderation here. It takes a lot of effort to understand and follow current events. You need to read multiple sources, as well as multiple perspectives (for a very simplistic example: 3-5 sources from a liberal perspective, and 3-5 sources from a conservative perspective - for each issue, and assuming there are only 2 sides).

This is very time consuming. Spending 15 minutes a day just populates your mental models with poor information. The alternative is to stop and spend time on other activities. That way you know clearly what you don't know, and at least still have an open mind.

Re: Why We Should Watch Less News

#78

Post by BeetleB »

lifeformed wrote: post #42
abhiminator wrote: post #19

I recall reading and saving (in my Instapaper) a super relevant essay[0] written by a Swiss entrepreneur/author -- Rolf Dobelli -- that talks about how news systematically alters your 'risk-map' of the world, thus making you worry about things that'll almost never affect you while distracting you from things that actually might; as an example, the author talks about how terrorism is overrated and chronic stress is un…

Are there any good sources of daily curated news? I'd like to read a condensed version of important news without all the emotional manipulation. I would pay money for that.

In my experience as a former news junkie, it is very unlikely a "good enough" source exists. Spend enough time following and understanding the news (in detail - hours per week), and then when you look at curated news, you'll see all the flaws in them.

You'll see their bias in their curation. You'll read a piece from it and, because of your experience, will have many questions pop up in your head, which will tell you that the piece is missing crucial information. Etc.

Re: Why We Should Watch Less News

#79

Post by redisman »

lifeformed wrote: post #42
abhiminator wrote: post #19

I recall reading and saving (in my Instapaper) a super relevant essay[0] written by a Swiss entrepreneur/author -- Rolf Dobelli -- that talks about how news systematically alters your 'risk-map' of the world, thus making you worry about things that'll almost never affect you while distracting you from things that actually might; as an example, the author talks about how terrorism is overrated and chronic stress is un…

Are there any good sources of daily curated news? I'd like to read a condensed version of important news without all the emotional manipulation. I would pay money for that.

I listen to The Daily podcast from NYTimes. It's a deeper dive to the most important story in the past day and then a very quick summary of other notable events. (I'm also guilty of reading way too much news online in addition)

Re: Why We Should Watch Less News

#80

Post by HSO »

beat wrote: post #6

Recommended reading list thread! What have you read this year that you think others should read as well? Here's a few of mine that really stand out. Factfulness , by Hans Rosling The Ethics of Ambiguity , by Simone de Beauvoir Designing Delivery , by Jeff Sussna (re-read) The Cooking Gene , by Michael Twitty Binti , by Nnedi Okorafor The Philosophy of Spinoza The Silk Roads , by Peter Frankopan

Question, since you listed Rösling's Factfulness: How many points did you get in their little quiz in the intro or ch1, I forget where it was, if you don't mind sharing?
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