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Endless Doom Scroller

endlessdoomscroller.com

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Re: Endless Doom Scroller

#91

Post by mekoka »

Barrin92 wrote: post #35

I don't really understand the 'doomer' debate, that is to say complaining about negative news when the world in fact is facing enormous negative events. It seems to me sort of like the 'three-wise-monkeys', just think happy thoughts and the world gets better or something. It seems infantile. I don't see how you can fix problems if you aren't willing to in the first place look at them, as we've seen in this pandemic t…

> honestly looking at the world in sober fashion I think most people are probably not scared enough.

I see your comment as the perfect irony. First, you presume that your outlook is sober, but have you considered that the way you perceive the world is just that, the product of your biased (by all the gloom) state of mind? Do you think the world is getting worse? It's been "getting worse" forever.

As for fixing problems, how many problems can you realistically fix from what you're watching? The world has real problems and you could just pick one if you want and focus on it. There's really no need to dwell on negativity days on end. Doom and gloom is just a distraction and contrary to what you may believe, not productive.

My personal advice though, would be to try to retreat for a while and observe that nothing much would have changed when you resurface. It'll be like skipping two seasons of a bad soap opera and picking it up later, without missing a beat and without having wasted hours following circuitous story lines.

Re: Endless Doom Scroller

#94

Post by dencodev »

mtagius wrote: post #81

Tired of doom scrolling? Try out my infinite scroll website that I promise will not fill you with dread. https://endlessdonuts.us/

I spend too much time on HN because my first thought in seeing these was to add more randomness and unique features to the point that the probability of getting an exact donut replica on a page load was near 0

Re: Endless Doom Scroller

#95

Post by Robotbeat »

ontifica wrote: post #87
Robotbeat wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with that is we are bombarded with at least 10 times as many headlines as articles can possibly be read. Even within an article, there will be links to other headlines. Look at a news front page and there are enough headlines immediately in view that would take an hour or five to read through. There’s no way to “get ahead” by RTFA, and shaming people for only having seen a misleading headline is attacking…

If news media is for profit, news media will naturally use the most engaging headline to beat out competition. There is no solution to this problem unless news is regulated or not for profit. You won't 'shame' an entire industry into changing something they've been doing for centuries.

Beats shaming humans for doing something they’ve been doing since the invention of writing: reading titles before reading books or articlesz

Re: Endless Doom Scroller

#96

Post by CarlosCabrito »

It feels like Doom Scroller at the time, was created to enhance user experience and it is not pushed to drive further increases in profitability to the point where it is a detriment to society.

I am curious to see if society will move towards providing a tick-box setting to give users control over Doom Scrolling. Only time will tell.

Re: Endless Doom Scroller

#97

Post by jwally »

YOU DON’T NEED TO WATCH THAT MUCH NEWS You will never have the political power to do something about all the terrifying problems we wave at you. The human brain just isn’t designed to take in a whole world’s worth of disturbing news. Most of us have enough trouble with the more mundane problems of finding inner peace and securing happiness for our loved ones. We know this, but keep winding you up anyway. In fact, the tension between the sheer quantity of horrifying news and your real-world impotence to do much about it is part of our consumer strategy.

#We create the illusion that being informed is a kind of action in itself#.

So to wash that guilt out—to eliminate the shame and discomfort you feel over doing nothing as the world goes mad—you’ll keep tuning in. The “You don’t actually need to be watching this all day” rule would be true even if news stories were sorted logically and according to social importance. They aren’t:

Taibbi, Matt. Hate Inc. (p. 137). OR Books. Kindle Edition.

Re: Endless Doom Scroller

#99

Post by walleeee »

luckylion wrote: post #70
walleeee wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously the news cycle thrives on panic and style over substance. This does not change the fact that "knowing" about the world is valuable. Effective action to address a threat is nearly impossible without an accurate model of it. People don't need to be experts about everything to become relatively well informed about many things, nor do they need to try to solve every problem at once. The appeal to institutions a…

How is "knowing" about the daily Corona virus data from around the world good for you? I get the basic idea: know to wear a mask, keep your distance, avoid groups of people in areas that aren't well ventilated. But what how does the number of deaths in some city you don't live in or near help you? > People don't need to be experts about everything to become relatively well informed about many things, nor do they need…

I think we're talking past each other. I agree with what you're saying here. Maybe I didn't make it clear, but I agree that e.g., watching cable news and skimming headlines will not give one a particularly accurate or useful picture of the world, and may even harm one's mental health.

I'm saying there are better ways, and their value is not diminished by the firehose of low- or negative-value information most people consume.

Re: Endless Doom Scroller

#100

Post by walleeee »

MaulingMonkey wrote: post #83
walleeee wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously the news cycle thrives on panic and style over substance. This does not change the fact that "knowing" about the world is valuable. Effective action to address a threat is nearly impossible without an accurate model of it. People don't need to be experts about everything to become relatively well informed about many things, nor do they need to try to solve every problem at once. The appeal to institutions a…

Not all knowledge is equal in value, and time spent learning one thing has an opportunity cost - it's time you can't spend, say, learning something more useful. Understanding what went wrong, how it could've been caught, how to prevent it from happening in the future, options and tradeoffs for how to resolve things now that the damage has been done, etc. - this can be extremely useful and empowering. Even if you have…

I agree with everything you said.
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