Did You Hear We Got Osama?

#1

Post by choxi » Fri, Feb 17, 2012, 8:47 PM UTC

Did You Hear We Got Osama?
roshfu.com

Re: Did You Hear We Got Osama?

#2

Post by meric » Fri, Feb 17, 2012, 9:09 PM UTC

The fact that I read your post means I've lost 50% of my daily news quota. Damn.

Good advice nonetheless.

Re: Did You Hear We Got Osama?

#3

Post by mvkel » Fri, Feb 17, 2012, 9:11 PM UTC

Well put. My only counterpoint: sure, if you want to be 100% productive 100% of the time, don't succumb to distractions.

If you see coworkers chatting over a coffee, do you think, "wow, they're being totally unproductive. They don't need those coffees, they should be working!"? Of course not.

Consuming _and discussing_ news is a social activity. If your life is your work and nothing else, you'd be a very boring person.

Consuming information by choice allows us to express ourselves later with our opinions. Everyone should make an effort to learn about their surroundings to be an informed, contributing member of a democratic society. People say politicians are out of touch, but compared to a lot of Americans who willingly cut off their exposure to news, are they really?

It's actually funny reading your post, because you sound exactly like me when I was your age. As you get older, I think you'll learn to appreciate relationships with people more. The 18+ hour startup days lose their appeal.

Re: Did You Hear We Got Osama?

#4

Post by zotz » Fri, Feb 17, 2012, 9:12 PM UTC

Osama who?

Re: Did You Hear We Got Osama?

#5

Post by rsinger9 » Fri, Feb 17, 2012, 9:16 PM UTC

How do you responsibly participate in a democracy when you ignore world news?

For example, how can you judge two presidential candidates' positions on foreign policy when you don't know what other nations have been up to?

The OP doesn't discriminate between junk news, entertainment news, and knowing what is going on in the world.

Re: Did You Hear We Got Osama?

#6

Post by AznHisoka » Fri, Feb 17, 2012, 9:21 PM UTC

zotz wrote: post #4

Osama who?

Wait.. wasn't the article talking about Obama?... huh? Man, you got me all confused

Re: Did You Hear We Got Osama?

#7

Post by tristan_louis » Fri, Feb 17, 2012, 9:23 PM UTC

Let me be the contrarian here. If you limit yourself to a few content sources, you won't be able to make the leaps that come out of having access to information outside those sources and will eventually fall prey to group-think.

Might work for you for a bit but if you want to change the world, you have to be aware of it.

Re: Did You Hear We Got Osama?

#8

Post by jowiar » Fri, Feb 17, 2012, 9:24 PM UTC

John Irving nailed it in A Prayer for Owen Meany:

"Newspapers are a bad habit, the reading equivalent of junk food. What happens to me is that I seize upon an issue in the news—the issue is the moral/philosophical, political/intellectual equivalent of a cheeseburger with everything on it; but for the duration of my interest in it, all my other interests are consumed by it, and whatever appetites and capacities I may have had for detachment and reflection are suddenly subordinate to this cheeseburger in my life! I offer this as self-criticism; but what it means to be "political" is that you welcome these obsessions with cheeseburgers—at great cost to the rest of your life."

Re: Did You Hear We Got Osama?

#9

Post by djacobs » Fri, Feb 17, 2012, 9:26 PM UTC

Isn't not caring about current political issues the basis for the dystopia that underlies Brave New World?

Re: Did You Hear We Got Osama?

#10

Post by pooriaazimi » Fri, Feb 17, 2012, 9:27 PM UTC

I changed my habits a few months ago after reading http://www.marco.org/2011/09/04/sane-rss-usage. I'm really happy I did that.

    "RSS is best for following a large number of infrequently updated sites"

I have 6-7 feeds in my Reeder.app and check them weekly.

(Edit) related HN submission and comments: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2959928