Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How do you process the news?

alexschroeder.ch

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 67 posts

Re: How do you process the news?

#51

Post by xboxnolifes »

tvbv wrote: post #31
mrangle wrote: post #16

Media's aim is to keep people emotionally hooked on short term directional adjustments in political trajectory, including the presented minutia of the events that seem to determine it. The only way to consume news, without subjecting oneself to the inner turmoil that the news is designed to produce, is to develop a long term theory and then just check in with the headlines to make sure that things are progressing tow…

What would be the most efficient way of creating a long term theory for a newcomer and where should they start ? Global systemic issues ? Local/State level issues ? How did you personally created your world model ?

In theory, you could start from any thought. However you may think the world works or is heading toward, you re-evaluate it every once in a while and change it if it isn't looking true. You will eventually get to a more nuanced, hopefully more well informed, view.

Re: How do you process the news?

#52

Post by weard_beard »

I solve theoretical engineering problems that would be faced during a new American civil war or revolution. I imagine I am tasked with supplying novel means and kit for asymmetric warfare against the US military. I roleplay in my head and review the outcome of skirmishes by Wagner and in Ukraine. I go over what I know of the Winter war. I think about supply lines. I think about the mindset of the opposition in such a scenario. I compose scenarios that would drive fear into their foot soldiers. Then I take my dog for a long walk and wait.

Re: How do you process the news?

#53

Post by every »

keiferski wrote: post #35

Something I have been thinking about lately: Is there a "way out" of hyper-optimized, propagandistic, attention-grabbing media overtaking all sources of information in a society with rock-solid free speech laws? Is there even a remote possibility that a nuanced, truthful organization that covers global events could even get funded and exist? I'm a bit skeptical. We might imagine that in a sort of fictional closed eli…

My admittedly US-centric solution is NPR[1] and PBS[2], both primarily funded by donations and contributors...

[1] https://www.npr.org/ [2] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/

Re: How do you process the news?

#54

Post by FergusArgyll »

My wish for a better news ecosystem would be this:

At the bottom of every story should be - at least one but preferably a few - exact quantitative predictions based on the story.

So, for example, after a dramatic story about a pending government shutdown it should say:

- over 100 children will die due to loss of funding to lunch programs (if shutdown occurs %78

- Government will be shut down for > 2 weeks %63

- > 10,000 gov employees lose a month of pay %54

And then if the predictions don't pan out it'll be obvious that most of it was hyperventilating, and if they do, I'll know to take seriously their warnings about the world coming to an end.

Another plus is; I think while the writer is choosing probabilities, he/she will realize he/she might have oversold the story, and will go back and rewrite it

Re: How do you process the news?

#55

Post by GMoromisato »

twright0 wrote: post #36
GMoromisato wrote: post #25

I'm hugely sympathetic to this, but at the same time, I want to say, "snap out of it!" We shouldn't take on the burden of things we cannot control. I think telling kids that they can change the world is mentally damaging. They could easily come to believe that if the world sucks, then it's their fault for not trying hard enough. As for how to actually process the news, I remember a scene from the Hitchhiker's Guide t…

> He replies, "I'm Zaphod Beeblebrox!" This only happens because he was inside a computer simulation of the universe created just for him, so the Vortex shows him he actually is important. Had it happened for real it would have destroyed his mind just like everyone else.

My memory comes from the radio adaptation, in which Zaphod survives because he’s delusionally egotistical.

Re: How do you process the news?

#56

Post by johnea »

I spend several hours/day reading news on around 30 websites.

I don't read anything that starts with an @

I don't use any asocial media. I read news websites.

Given paywalls, I mostly scan headlines. The overwhelming majority of posted articles are pure shit. They couldn't pay me to read them, much less the other way around. When an article seems to contain meaningful information, I find a way to read the contents.

Even once I delve into the text of an article, most are badly written. I call the journalistic/literary style "It was a dark and stormy night". They're much more focused on story telling than conveying information. This seems to be what people want now. So, in total opposition to historical news reading, I skip the first couple of paragraphs, instead of expecting to find the gist of the information in those first paragraphs.

It's like a classic relationship problem: the issue is on both sides. The media producers are striving to "hook 'em and gouge 'em", and the readers are mostly so vacuous that this seems to be what they're looking for anyway.

But don't worry! It's going to get worse, much worse.

Good luck with that...

Re: How do you process the news?

#57

Post by iFire »

Every time I operate on urgent news I get burnt, so any sort of world changing news can handle a nights rest before responding. Things that are published on paper have a higher priority on my Apple News process.

Re: How do you process the news?

#58

Post by johnea »

FergusArgyll wrote: post #54

My wish for a better news ecosystem would be this: At the bottom of every story should be - at least one but preferably a few - exact quantitative predictions based on the story. So, for example, after a dramatic story about a pending government shutdown it should say: - over 100 children will die due to loss of funding to lunch programs (if shutdown occurs %78 - Government will be shut down for > 2 weeks %63 - > 10,…

My preference would be the opposite of this: I'd like to see news report factual information on events that have actually ocurred.

Prediction is not news, it's a guess. A guess is fictional, not factual.

I'd prefer factual news...

Re: How do you process the news?

#60

Post by fsargent »

tvbv wrote: post #31
mrangle wrote: post #16

Media's aim is to keep people emotionally hooked on short term directional adjustments in political trajectory, including the presented minutia of the events that seem to determine it. The only way to consume news, without subjecting oneself to the inner turmoil that the news is designed to produce, is to develop a long term theory and then just check in with the headlines to make sure that things are progressing tow…

What would be the most efficient way of creating a long term theory for a newcomer and where should they start ? Global systemic issues ? Local/State level issues ? How did you personally created your world model ?

The economist is a good start. Read monthly or weekly periodicals.
Post reply on HN