The brain was not designed for this much bad news • Hacker News Board

Re: The brain was not designed for this much bad news

#281

Post by jancsika » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 7:18 PM UTC

spking wrote: post #3

Neil Postman called this the “Peekaboo World”. “What steps do you plan to take to reduce the conflict in the Middle East? Or the rates of inflation, crime and unemployment? What are your plans for preserving the environment or reducing the risk of nuclear war? What do you plan to do about NATO, OPEC, the CIA, affirmative action, and the monstrous treatment of the Baha’is in Iran? I shall take the liberty of answering…

One man's spite against this type of self-satisfied, evidence-free opinion is what got the 27th Amendment passed.[1]

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-seventh_Amendment_to_th...

Re: The brain was not designed for this much bad news

#282

Post by EA-3167 » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 7:31 PM UTC

roenxi wrote: post #11

The other option is to be more realistic - people often have wildly unrealistic expectations of how the world should work and seem to get a bit stressed when they are confronted with reality. The more pressing problem is the voters who accept policies being put in place based on something going wrong one time without accepting that things go wrong and we have to tolerate problems to some extent. If policies were made…

An alarming number of people seem to build their intuition about the world from fictional sources, without even realizing it. Movies, tv, books if you're lucky, and now social media all warp the least experienced people's sense of reality. If you watch the old clip shows of home videos, one recurring theme is that people got their intuition about physics from tv or movies. They'd make ramps for their bikes that were laughable and then take a header. They'd jump off roofs onto yoga balls and break their backs.

I think we're seeing a much greater extension of that as people increasingly engage with the world through the lens of media and stories we tell, rather than... you know... doing things.

Re: The brain was not designed for this much bad news

#283

Post by functionmouse » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 7:34 PM UTC

sph wrote: post #74

rf15 wrote: post #67

I don't know, I am a naturally anxious person even before I started reading the news daily, and I'm fine. Seeing the brutal chaos of the world definitely makes me appreciate the peace at home more. It's a grounding experience to be aware of the good and bad things that happen in the world.

I have no way to prove this, and likely you don’t either, but it’s likely it is affecting you but you are simply not aware of it.

probably making him "naturally anxious" lol

Re: The brain was not designed for this much bad news

#284

Post by bdelmas » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 7:51 PM UTC

roenxi wrote: post #11

The other option is to be more realistic - people often have wildly unrealistic expectations of how the world should work and seem to get a bit stressed when they are confronted with reality. The more pressing problem is the voters who accept policies being put in place based on something going wrong one time without accepting that things go wrong and we have to tolerate problems to some extent. If policies were made…

It’s more a question of knowing when to unplug yourself on things that are affecting you but that you cannot control. From government news to something bad happening miles from you. These news can affect you but you have no control over the situation. Not doing so is actually one way to get depression.

Re: The brain was not designed for this much bad news

#285

Post by greenavocado » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 8:02 PM UTC

EA-3167 wrote: post #282

roenxi wrote: post #11

The other option is to be more realistic - people often have wildly unrealistic expectations of how the world should work and seem to get a bit stressed when they are confronted with reality. The more pressing problem is the voters who accept policies being put in place based on something going wrong one time without accepting that things go wrong and we have to tolerate problems to some extent. If policies were made…

An alarming number of people seem to build their intuition about the world from fictional sources, without even realizing it. Movies, tv, books if you're lucky, and now social media all warp the least experienced people's sense of reality. If you watch the old clip shows of home videos, one recurring theme is that people got their intuition about physics from tv or movies. They'd make ramps for their bikes that were…

And don't forget that those fictional sources are typically commissioned by oligarchs with their own vested interest in herding the voting masses

Re: The brain was not designed for this much bad news

#286

Post by firstplacelast » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 8:11 PM UTC

zeroonetwothree wrote: post #4

I only read local news. It’s pretty nice I don’t feel stressed at all. Turns out random shit far away has no significant effect on my life. And even if it did it’s not like I can do anything about it

I was talking to my aunt, who has never been much for technology, during covid. Never really had a tv in her home, etc. She's late 70's maybe early 80's now. Anyway, I was asking her how she was doing with all the chaos and she was just like "umm well I just live my life. I go out and volunteer and go camping, not much has changed...". She was just very unbothered by all of it (and she was a nurse for decades, so not in a "masks are criminal, social distancing doesn't work" way).

I more and more identify with that ethos. I want to be informed, but I don't want to be miserable from the bombastic 24/7 news cycle being shoved in my face when I can't do much about any of it.

Re: The brain was not designed for this much bad news

#287

Post by Isamu » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 8:11 PM UTC

EA-3167 wrote: post #282

roenxi wrote: post #11

The other option is to be more realistic - people often have wildly unrealistic expectations of how the world should work and seem to get a bit stressed when they are confronted with reality. The more pressing problem is the voters who accept policies being put in place based on something going wrong one time without accepting that things go wrong and we have to tolerate problems to some extent. If policies were made…

An alarming number of people seem to build their intuition about the world from fictional sources, without even realizing it. Movies, tv, books if you're lucky, and now social media all warp the least experienced people's sense of reality. If you watch the old clip shows of home videos, one recurring theme is that people got their intuition about physics from tv or movies. They'd make ramps for their bikes that were…

>An alarming number of people seem to build their intuition about the world from fictional sources, without even realizing it.

A friend of mine had a machete that they destroyed when they took a mighty swing at a tiny tree. You could put your hand around this tree but still, do you expect to chop through a baseball bat with your sword like Conan the Barbarian? Too many films depict unrealistic swordplay.

Re: The brain was not designed for this much bad news

#288

Post by h26d3r » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 8:23 PM UTC

kjkjadksj wrote: post #265

inigyou wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The current high gas prices are the direct results of people not being informed two years ago.

War with Iran was not on anyones bingo card.

No, you're just highly misinformed. I could have told you a decade ago that all of this will play out in a second Trump term. The invasion of Iran was always going to be the culmination of the "War on Terror" and it was clear that Trump aligned himself with that political faction since long ago.

Re: The brain was not designed for this much bad news

#289

Post by amanaplanacanal » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 8:24 PM UTC

kjkjadksj wrote: post #263

Gibbon1 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buying electric cars, installing solar, and switching to heat pumps are one of the few things you can materially do to screw the powers that be. The the other one is limiting your family size.

The real eco hippies were fueling a 40 year old mercedes on fry oil. Powers that be want you to replace all sources of oil dependent product with another oil dependent product (after all, EVs depend on oil making plastic and grease a cheap commodity). They don’t want you to buy something they already sold to the unwashed masses decades ago. They want you to buy new thing. Never mind old thing still works.

Buy a used EV, best of both worlds.

Re: The brain was not designed for this much bad news

#290

Post by csallen » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 8:25 PM UTC

sho wrote: post #79

spking wrote: post #3

Neil Postman called this the “Peekaboo World”. “What steps do you plan to take to reduce the conflict in the Middle East? Or the rates of inflation, crime and unemployment? What are your plans for preserving the environment or reducing the risk of nuclear war? What do you plan to do about NATO, OPEC, the CIA, affirmative action, and the monstrous treatment of the Baha’is in Iran? I shall take the liberty of answering…

> the “Peekaboo World” What a great analogy. And IG/Tiktok reduce it into an even purer state - endless random videos, barely if at all connected, ephemeral stimulation you can't even remember 30 seconds after seeing it. I know 50 year old adults who can spend entire hours just in this mesmerized state of flicking through these random feeds, seeing but not seeing, like some kind of drug induced hypnosis. I wonder wha…

> … ephemeral stimulation you can't even remember 30 seconds after seeing it. I know 50 year old adults who can spend entire hours just in this mesmerized state of flicking through these random feeds, seeing but not seeing, like some kind of drug induced hypnosis

To be fair, most people who engage in "healthy" habits like reading, creating, meditating, socializing, or just sitting and staring at nature, could also said to be in a mesmerized almost-hypnotized state, and rarely remember much of what they're experiencing.