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Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#71

Post by sharken »

Not being Ukrainian makes it somewhat easier i think, but it's still a very troubling situation.

Hopefully there are some sensible Russians who will prevent Putin from running amok.

My routine consists of checking Hacker News, CNN and local media with the purpose of checking up on any new developments.

One rule i try to live by is no commenting while at work.

And while there is no sympathy at all for Putin, i have no problems with the Russian people, they are still very much welcome.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#72

Post by kaeken »

I'm treating parsing the news as an exercise in recognizing disinformation instead of just watching in horror. There's so many parties between what's actually happening and my news feed that I feel there's guaranteed to be genuine war-time propaganda showing up. I want to build the muscle required to recognize that stuff so that when the same tactics are used by/against my country later in life, I'll be practiced at calling it out.

That Ghost of Kyiv story? Immediately called the clip BS since it's like Propaganda 101. Turns out the video on my timeline was from a video game.

Approaching my news feed as a hostile reader takes enough effort/energy that I genuinely just get tired and put it down to do something else.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#73

Post by dylan604 »

paskozdilar wrote: post #29

It is rational to ignore information about things we cannot affect. Your energy is much better used in other ways.

It's also rational to be affected by things we cannot affect as well though. Your comment could be interpetted as saying that it is irrational to not ignore these things.

Unfortunately, platitudes are not always the answer.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#75

Post by scruple »

ianai wrote: post #63
SapporoChris wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious of the odds of danger while being in a very tall building on a day to day basis. Additionally, I'm wondering what sort of news alert you're looking for that would be actionable. Do you really expect a news flash that will give you adequate time to take actions. Balance all this against the time you spend looking at news daily.

Considering I worked through multiple bomb threats, a nearby active shooter, and other such things I consider it time well spent. Probably any job with a high degree of public interaction benefits from situational awareness, further.

I agree with this comment because I am the same way. Situational awareness is extremely important to me.

But, with these events today, I'm being honest with myself: I live within 5 miles of a major, international US airport. Within 25 miles of a major military installation. Within 35 miles of a major US port. If I go out 50 miles, there are quite literally dozens of high priority targets in SoCal. My point being: If the SLBMs start flying, my entire world is going to be flattened by an air burst before anyone even gets a warning.

So, while I am paying active attention (more than I should) to this situation, I also know that, ultimately, worst-case scenario, it really doesn't matter. With that perspective, when I find myself looking at my social feeds a little too much or watching / reading a little too much news, I walk away from it to go spend time with my family.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#77

Post by scruple »

chinathrow wrote: post #42
omgmajk wrote: post #35

It's an addiction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomscrolling

I've heard of the term but never read up its definition, thank you, that's it: "Doomscrolling, the compulsion to engross oneself in negative news, may be the result of an evolutionary mechanism where humans are “wired to screen for and anticipate danger”. The anticipation bit made it clear. So now is the question: how to over come it? Looks like I need a full blown news detox.

I'm no longer a religious person but I was raised a Presbyterian Christian. It was very common to hear the adults around me recite the Serenity Prayer when I was younger. I think there is a lot of wisdom there. I don't know if that will help you but it has helped me.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#78

Post by Measter »

ianai wrote: post #22
drstewart wrote: post #3

I don't glue myself to the news. What's the point? Do you really need minute by minute updates of every operation or event? What actionable difference will it make?

You’ve clearly never worked nor lived somewhere high on the list of places a hostile would want to destroy. When I worked in a very tall building (tallest for thousands of miles) I would keep an eye towards the news “just in case”. Right now any such place is probably on high alert regardless of whether it would seem an obvious target to randos on the internet.

I do the same as drstewart, because there's nothing I can realistically do, and getting myself worked up will only make my life worse.

And to answer your assertion, I live within 5km of the largest naval port in western Europe, which is also the Royal Navy's only nuclear repair and refuelling facility. I think it's safe to say that it'd be fairly high on the list of targets.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#79

Post by omgmajk »

chinathrow wrote: post #42
omgmajk wrote: post #35

It's an addiction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomscrolling

I've heard of the term but never read up its definition, thank you, that's it: "Doomscrolling, the compulsion to engross oneself in negative news, may be the result of an evolutionary mechanism where humans are “wired to screen for and anticipate danger”. The anticipation bit made it clear. So now is the question: how to over come it? Looks like I need a full blown news detox.

I just stopped reading the news pretty much. It takes like a week or two and then you won't even notice. Look at it this way, if anything super important happens you will most likely see it on the front page here or on the front page of Reddit. But with HN and Reddit you don't get the bulk that is made to fill the page on a news site.

Re: Ask HN: How do you get work done while there is a war in Europe?

#80

Post by DiabloD3 »

jltsiren wrote: post #70
DiabloD3 wrote: post #17

I am not in Europe, but American, and this war does affect me, since we are the largest member of NATO, but also the first target of Russian aggression in this weird neo-Soviet era if Russia decides to deploy nukes (a low, but non-zero, chance). I give the news 15 minutes of my time every day. Even when events like this happen, 15 minutes. I, nor you, can meaningfully change the course of events; even if we could, ne…

It's much easier to avoid thinking about the war in the US. Here it's just another tragedy in a faraway country, and you only hear about it in the news. It probably doesn't affect your daily life. The situation seems very different in Europe. The war is pretty much the only thing people are talking about on the channels I use to stay in touch with people in Finland. If I want to avoid thinking about the war, it's not…

I am of the generation that saw people being sent overseas just to die because, as many put it, "Bush lied".

The world is an international community, we sink or swim together. A tragedy in a faraway country is no different than one in my backyard.

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