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Stop Reading News (2013)

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Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#11

Post by salvadormon »

skilled wrote: post #6

For the last 4-5 years, Hacker News has been pretty much my only source of any kind of news outside of the topics that I work with on a daily basis. This is true. Before that, I did not read newspapers or follow any kind of journalism. I still recall being around age 12 or 13 and making a conscious decision not to watch TV anymore. It has been around just as much time since I last saw a TV news report. Maybe it has s…

That's the same reason I don't watch news on TV, they're always covering negative stories about how politicians are corrupt, big organizations cheat the system, etc. I just don't feel like being more pessimistic than I already are.

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#12

Post by oth001 »

m0zg wrote: post #7

“To read a newspaper is to refrain from reading something worthwhile. [....] The first discipline of education must therefore be to refuse resolutely to feed the mind with canned chatter.” ― Aleister Crowley

Interesting quote coming from him

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#13

Post by keiferski »

I, for one, would love a monthly email newsletter that summarizes the top ~100 news stories of the past 30 days. Things that turned out to be irrelevant would be ignored, while things that turned out to be important would be included and briefly commented upon.

Magazines like The Economist sort of fulfill this role, but they are often a little too detailed for the high-level overview I'm looking for.

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#14

Post by darkerside »

jychang wrote: post #8

Ugh, why can't rational people see how this is an instance of "black and white thinking" cognitive distortions? Life isn't a binary black and white, as much as software engineers would like it to be. One side says "don't ever read the news, it causes negative moods" and the another side says "you should always read the news to keep up to date with the world". The proper way to approach the issue is to strike a balanc…

Agreed. The whole point of news providers should be that they're filtering the "new" information down to what's actually important. But because of the engagement economy we've built, the goal is instead to make EVERYTHING sounds like critical breaking news, even when it's not.

I really hope there is some kind of replacement for the 24 hour news cycle, because otherwise society will continue to polarize.

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#15

Post by krylon »

Part of me feels kind of bad about this when I think about it too much, but I have substantially improved my well-being by drastically cutting down my news consumption. It's not about time management per se, but so much of the news either makes me feel sad or angry.

On the other hand, what news I do consume these days, I do consume more deliberately.

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#17

Post by dingaling »

jychang wrote: post #8

Ugh, why can't rational people see how this is an instance of "black and white thinking" cognitive distortions? Life isn't a binary black and white, as much as software engineers would like it to be. One side says "don't ever read the news, it causes negative moods" and the another side says "you should always read the news to keep up to date with the world". The proper way to approach the issue is to strike a balanc…

I'm not sure that a balance is generally possible without paying significant sums.

On the rare occasions that I do read news articles I find them shallow, meandering and less informative than they should be.

I used to read The Economist and found their reports useful. But that comes at a considerable cost. So the easier option is to just forgo news altogether.

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#18

Post by zimpenfish »

skilled wrote: post #6

For the last 4-5 years, Hacker News has been pretty much my only source of any kind of news outside of the topics that I work with on a daily basis. This is true. Before that, I did not read newspapers or follow any kind of journalism. I still recall being around age 12 or 13 and making a conscious decision not to watch TV anymore. It has been around just as much time since I last saw a TV news report. Maybe it has s…

> I think the new generation is caught up in quizzes that stir up emotions, and psychological tests that determine whether a giraffe is your spirit animal.

Given the activism they're showing in, eg, the US, I think if you read the news, you'd be surprised how wrong you are.

> How can anyone justify reading news that only talk about negative things?

To be aware of them in order to help fix them?

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#19

Post by kriro »

skilled wrote: post #6

For the last 4-5 years, Hacker News has been pretty much my only source of any kind of news outside of the topics that I work with on a daily basis. This is true. Before that, I did not read newspapers or follow any kind of journalism. I still recall being around age 12 or 13 and making a conscious decision not to watch TV anymore. It has been around just as much time since I last saw a TV news report. Maybe it has s…

I consider it a little dangerous to rely on a single news source. Granted HN as an aggregator is better than relying on a single paper but it's still a bit unhealthy to read all news in a HN framing (assuming you read comments+newsitem). Even if you just use it as an aggregator it's still fairly selective.

Additionally, HN is very "high level". I don't know how involved you are in the community you live in but I always consume at least one "hyperlocal" paper (+local radio) to stay up to speed on the things that happen in my immediate neighborhood.

Re: Stop Reading News (2013)

#20

Post by throwaway8879 »

oth001 wrote: post #12
m0zg wrote: post #7

“To read a newspaper is to refrain from reading something worthwhile. [....] The first discipline of education must therefore be to refuse resolutely to feed the mind with canned chatter.” ― Aleister Crowley

Interesting quote coming from him

I heard a very interesting talk on Crowley by Robert Anton Wilson once. Crowley did have some rather far-out ideas. Also, I seem to recall him being in cahoots with the British Intelligence services at the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt8TZ0hYHiE

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