No news is good news • Hacker News Board

Re: No news is good news

#131

Post by NikolaNovak » Tue, Mar 29, 2022, 2:03 AM UTC

bckr wrote: post #102

dragontamer wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I do find it interesting that I have yet to have anyone bring up the Ukraine situation. Speaking of "weekly" discussions, the Ukraine situation has been brought up in my weekly Church prayers since it started. Generally speaking, if it a current event that the Priests make 2 or 3 "intentions" for (in the Catholic mass, the prayers that occur after the Homily but before the preparations), its an incredible event. In…

I am greatly in support of Ukraine and the destruction of the invaders, but > the suffering and pains of that country are the greatest seen in many decades Could this really be true?

I think it's context specific.

Suffering caused by armed conflict, in Europe? Probably. (I'm from Sarajevo and I think we are a close second if not the first.)

Mass suffering by any cause anywhere? Between the Tsunamis and diseases and earthquakes and awful civil wars and genocides, sadly, I think the competition is quite stiff :(

Re: No news is good news

#132

Post by LAC-Tech » Tue, Mar 29, 2022, 3:16 AM UTC

Theodores wrote: post #126

gumby wrote: post #36

I have been a very strong adherent of this philosophy for over 30 years. There’s an adage, “there’s nothing as worthless as yesterday’s news”. Which led me to wonder, “was it even worth knowing yesterday?” I realized the solution was a low pass filter. I first switched to a seven-page newspaper (CSM) delivered through the mail. I realised the editors had to figure out whether it would still be interesting by the time…

In the olden days when coal fires in open fireplaces were part of daily life, old newspapers were used to build up the base of the fire. You would scrunch up sheets of newspaper, pack them into the hearth, then add some kindling on top, then add a modest amount of coal, preferably dry coal. With a single match you would then set light to the scrunched up newspaper, which would set light to the wood, which would get t…

LOL the "olden days" of open fires are very much alive and well here in NZ. There's a small town near me that gets smog in winter due to coal smoke from people who only have space heaters and single glazing.

Re: No news is good news

#133

Post by PeterisP » Tue, Mar 29, 2022, 3:51 AM UTC

gumby wrote: post #108

bckr wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am greatly in support of Ukraine and the destruction of the invaders, but > the suffering and pains of that country are the greatest seen in many decades Could this really be true?

Seems unlikely given wars that are going on now, like Yemen, or resource wars like Congo, or genocide like Burma, Rwanda, Cambodia… Humans’ abilities to make others suffer continually amazes and horrifies me.

I think that this is larger and more intensive than the Yemen war - it seems that already in this month the combatants in Ukraine have had as much or more casualties than all the years of Yemen war; Yemen has had 15000 civilians directly killed by war but I think Mariupol alone will see that much when the fighting ends and bodies are dug out of the rubble, if we look at displaced persons, Wikipedia states that Yemen has displaced 4 million but this conflict has already displaced 10 million, etc.

The last weeks in Ukraine have seen more damage than Yemen-like conflicts had on their worse year, the Russian invasion firepower is simply on a different scale than what Yemen or Houthi forces could muster. The intensity of this war, as a mass full scale industrial land war, actually is unusually large.

Re: No news is good news

#134

Post by raz32dust » Tue, Mar 29, 2022, 4:02 AM UTC

Lot of people in the comments are recommending the Economist for a monthly/weekly digest. Any complimentary journals or magazines that can provide a slightly different perspective?

Re: No news is good news

#135

Post by signatoremo » Tue, Mar 29, 2022, 4:04 AM UTC

pdonis wrote: post #127

krisoft wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you asking about the historical facts? I don't know. Not my speciality, and I don't want to say something which might be not true. Are you asking about the younger me's understanding of this question? I can answer that. Understand the following in this light: My understanding that their persecution was not a bolt from the blue. Politicians were agitating against them. There were speeches, there were marching demo…

> Are you asking about the historical facts? Yes, because that's what's relevant to the question of whether watching the news is or is not a good way to get advance warnings of the kind of danger you might need to take drastic action to avoid. My understanding of the historical fact is that Jews who left Germany to escape the Nazis did not do so based on anything they read in the news; they did so based on word of mo…

> Based on what you read in the news

Yes, there have been continuous coverage about Russia’s preparation leading up to the invasion, such as this article:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/43371/russia-bolsters-...

Reddit’s /europe has had megathreads about it well in advance as well.

Re: No news is good news

#136

Post by decebalus1 » Tue, Mar 29, 2022, 4:52 AM UTC

h2odragon wrote: post #5

Far away problems are so much more interesting than those nearby. You needn't really do anything about them, and its much easier to assign your own valuation to anything you do. Your successes can be trumpeted as much as you like and your failures need never be known to anyone but you.

> Far away problems are so much more interesting than those nearby.

However, as the world gets more and more connected, far away problems have a tendency to become nearby problems real fast.

Re: No news is good news

#137

Post by tlb » Tue, Mar 29, 2022, 4:54 AM UTC

mantas wrote: post #94

tchocky wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Ukraine example might be true for a non-european country, but as a European in these times I want to be informed. I want to help refugees and the victims of war (either by donating or giving shelter for some days). If I wouldn't know things from the news, I wouldn't know about these things. Knowing in what direction world events might change is good to be at least mentally prepared when things turn worse. It does…

As a fellow European, IMO it’s very important to follow especially what non-Ukraine politicians are doing. That will help a lot in elections in coming decades. Let’s keep them accountable for once.

What do you think the advantages of continuous following are, vs. reading up on their history the day before the next election?

It seems to me that by waiting, you'll have more information on how their policies worked out. JIT judging, if you will.

Re: No news is good news

#138

Post by ipiz0618 » Tue, Mar 29, 2022, 5:00 AM UTC

Arainach wrote: post #96

The idea that only local news affects me is simply wrong, because the world is connected and things are influential. I do not live in Texas, but the Texas legislature restricting access to healthcare and allowing citizens to sue providers affects because certain political parties will treat that as a template for laws across the country, including in my area. The Florida legislature trying to ban books and discussion…

Agree with this so much. A lot of people take pride in being naive about the news. That's a privilege if you live in a reasonable environment, when others take care of reading the news, defending you from unreasonable legislations, policies, etc. It's not something to recommend to others, though. Imagine living under an oppressive government (this is surprisingly common) that invents laws every day just to arrest you for saying the wrong thing - knowing how to minimize your chance of getting arrested randomly is critical.

Re: No news is good news

#139

Post by PaulDavisThe1st » Tue, Mar 29, 2022, 5:27 AM UTC

glitchc wrote: post #16

Articles that engender good feelings, either by revealing a positive story or reporting a positive event, do not receive nearly the same level of engagement. Anger sells. Outrage sells. Media companies have known it since the dawn of the newspaper. Bad news generates anger and outrage, hence all news is bad news. It's a natural consequence of the human condition.

Today I discovered a video of someone who walks into a forest in winter and builds an overnight shelter out of pine trees, lights a fire and sleeps the night in -25C/-9F temperatures with just a woolen blanket. There is no talking. His channel has about 380k subscribers.

The video has TEN MILLION views. So many of the comments are of the form "this is the most beautiful/relaxing/wonderful thing I've seen in years".

Things that engender good feelings do propagate.

Re: No news is good news

#140

Post by LeroyRaz » Tue, Mar 29, 2022, 5:28 AM UTC

To me this is speaking to the echo chamber. I am so used to seeing this type of message, along with "Politics is the mind kill" and I nearly always see both blithely accepted, perpetuated, and unchallenged.

It also seems a ridiculously strong stance to take, 'going cold turkey on news.' A naunced point about how low quality discussion or sensational takes do more harm than good is reasonable, but this is not that. They themselves are neither long form, or considered and this website linking to their post is titled "Hacker News." It's ironic, to truly heed their advice we should ignore them.