Giving up reading news will make us happier • Hacker News Board

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#111

Post by kuerbel » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 2:34 PM UTC

AlwaysRock wrote: post #83

donw wrote: post #48

It's not just news. I cut out mainstream media several years ago, and noted a definite improvement in my psychological well-being. As of the end of last year, I stopped engaging in mainstream social media. So much better. I still keep a Facebook account for Messenger and Events, but don't post, read timelines, or participate. Not only do I have more time to read books and learn new things -- made pita bread from scra…

I'm in a similar boat. I felt very over whelmed and addicted to social media and news in general in college. I've got rid of all my social media other than twitter and linkedin which I use for work. Facebook I only use for messenger. I check reddit once or twice a day but rarely do I scroll past the first page. My overall mental health is much better. I feel a little bit of sadness when I see friends who HAVE to chec…

It's hard to get rid of it though. I suffer from this, when I get up the first thing I do is open reddit. I am actually thinking about blocking the entire site in the host file, on pc as well as android...

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#112

Post by some_account » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 2:36 PM UTC

arrythur wrote: post #101

some_account wrote: post #8

Haven't watched the news in at least 5 years. Actually I haven't watched TV in the last 5 years even. So I don't have ads bombarding me, or fear and propaganda coming in every day. Highly recommended. You have one life. Make sure it counts as a happy one.

While I understand the sentiment, I don't think it's fair to deprive yourself of a form of entertainment (i.e owning a TV) because there are commercials. If that were the case, wouldn't you have given up on the internet a long time ago due to the nature of ads and propaganda being everywhere?

I watch plenty of movies and TV series from sources with no ads.

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#113

Post by jessaustin » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 2:36 PM UTC

akuji1993 wrote: post #3

Kind of strange, reading that on a news site, pretty much telling you to stop using their site.

In the courts, an admission against the witness's own interest is considered more reliable than other testimony.

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#114

Post by slaydemons » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 2:36 PM UTC

monster_group wrote: post #70

The problem is that some news is relevant. One of my friends has given up reading or watching any kind of news altogether. At first this seems impressive but when I asked him about how far his house was from the wildfire, he was like "Umm - what wildfire?". He was oblivious to the fact that country's biggest wildfire was just three miles away from his house. He is a very smart and successful guy and it really jolted…

But he did find out since you told him. That's the whole reason you don't need to read news because if something in the news is actually important you will find out from people talking about it.

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#115

Post by some_account » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 2:37 PM UTC

arrythur wrote: post #101

some_account wrote: post #8

Haven't watched the news in at least 5 years. Actually I haven't watched TV in the last 5 years even. So I don't have ads bombarding me, or fear and propaganda coming in every day. Highly recommended. You have one life. Make sure it counts as a happy one.

While I understand the sentiment, I don't think it's fair to deprive yourself of a form of entertainment (i.e owning a TV) because there are commercials. If that were the case, wouldn't you have given up on the internet a long time ago due to the nature of ads and propaganda being everywhere?

On the internet ive used an ad blocker since the ads started showing up on the internet.

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#116

Post by arrythur » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 2:37 PM UTC

openasocket wrote: post #87

I found this article really unconvincing. It lashes out at random things like the number of hyperlinks in an article, and has completely unsubstantiated claims like the following: "Most news consumers – even if they used to be avid book readers – have lost the ability to absorb lengthy articles or books. After four, five pages they get tired, their concentration vanishes, they become restless. It's not because they g…

"The cornerstone of democracy is an informed public."

Absolutely agree with this. We have to elect our representatives based off of the knowledge we have of their actions and the policies they hold. Covering your ears and closing your eyes just makes you a less informed voter when the time comes. I think the need to shut out the news from one's life is perfectly acceptable, but at the very least, one should read some headlines at least once a week to get an idea of whats going on outside of their own personal world.

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#117

Post by tvanantwerp » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 2:37 PM UTC

kuerbel wrote: post #111

AlwaysRock wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in a similar boat. I felt very over whelmed and addicted to social media and news in general in college. I've got rid of all my social media other than twitter and linkedin which I use for work. Facebook I only use for messenger. I check reddit once or twice a day but rarely do I scroll past the first page. My overall mental health is much better. I feel a little bit of sadness when I see friends who HAVE to chec…

It's hard to get rid of it though. I suffer from this, when I get up the first thing I do is open reddit. I am actually thinking about blocking the entire site in the host file, on pc as well as android...

I used to charge my phone overnight on my bedside table. Recently I moved it into another room so I'm not tempted to use it first-thing in the morning.

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#118

Post by Numberwang » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 2:40 PM UTC

goatherders wrote: post #90

Numberwang wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you stay up to day? Ideally Id like a weekly review or something where I can spend 30min. I recongnise it would be beneficial to give up news, but I need to know a bit about whats going on to be social.

I had a newsletter that went out once a week and summarized the 10 most "important" news happenings of the previous week. Not gossip or politics or entertainment but "this happened and here is why it matters." Granted I could have marketed it better but there was very little interest.

Ah,

I would have been very interested in that. Too bad there was not enough interest for you to continue.

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#119

Post by gowan » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 2:40 PM UTC

scottmsul wrote: post #103

> Out of the 10,000 news stories you may have read in the last 12 months, did even one allow you to make a better decision about a serious matter in your life, Yes, there was an article on HN a couple weeks ago. Pork treated with nitrates increases the chance of colon cancer as much as smoking increases the chance of lung cancer (but pork treated with salt is ok).

interesting... can you provide a link?

Re: Giving up reading news will make us happier

#120

Post by Yetanfou » Thu, Apr 05, 2018, 2:40 PM UTC

Mainstream media in my part of the world - north-western Europe in general, Sweden and the Netherlands to be more specific - seems to have forgotten that it is the fiduciary duty of the news media to keep watch over those in power, instead turning their gaze on those who oppose the government position. While some critical journalism still exists in the main stream media, especially in Sweden this has mostly moved to what for some reason is called 'alternative media'

Given this lack of critical opinions in main stream media it is rather pointless to rely on them to keep informed. The 'alternative' media often offers a more critical voice but that voice often comes with an agenda and an accompanying myopic view which makes it as unwise to rely on any single 'alternative' source as it is to rely on main stream sources.

The solution to this conundrum is most emphatically not to 'stick your head in the sand' (i.e. giving up on reading news) as that just makes you less informed and with that less prepared to make rational decisions. This goes from the small - missing the small article hidden on page 7 in the local paper where the council declares its intention to close down the school you planned to send your children to because they claim to need the building for other purposes (this happened where I live, those who did read the news gathered to protest leading to the decision to be suspended) - to the large ('brexit', 'Russia is the new/old enemy', etc).

Is there an easy solution? No, I don't think there is. Finding truth in the media is like finding a needle in a haystack full of pins. What I do is use a news reader (the News app for Nextcloud, think 'Google Reader' but under private regime) with a select list of subscriptions from both 'alternative' as well as main stream sources. Reading the headlines gives an idea of what is being reported, comparing how what is being reported between sources gives an impression of what really happens or happened.