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Reading too much political news is bad for your well-being

theatlantic.com

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Re: Reading too much political news is bad for your well-being

#261

Post by asdff »

guscost wrote: post #251
SpicyLemonZest wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looking at the CNN front page for a good source of examples, non-political news would be things like: * Evacuations ordered in Colorado and Utah as crews battle new blazes * NFL reports no new positive Covid-19 tests * Preorders are open for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro When people discuss political news, they're referring to stories like "Biden is putting red states in play" or "Mexican restaurant takes political…

“Political news” very often consists of what Daniel J. Boorstin called “pseudo-events”, actions taken by people for the purpose of generating news . Today’s example: https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/18/politics/pelosi-stimulus-talk... In a profound sense, most political news really is “fake news”.

I think less 'fake news' and more like spitballing, personally. The article even ends in a 'could.' I think there is space for postulating on the implications of an event. We only see brief windows into what actually happens in discussions on capitol hill anyway, so idle speculation based on what we do see is expected.

Re: Reading too much political news is bad for your well-being

#262

Post by cynicalkane »

ignoramous wrote: post #247
caseysoftware wrote: post #148

As I've noted here a few times: Just over 10 years ago, I conducted an experiment. I watched an hour of CNN every night but it was never that night's coverage. It was from exactly two weeks ago. It was amazing how much "breaking news!" was irrelevant or just outright wrong, how many large trend predictions were wrong, and how many "[person] will do X" were wrong. While the predictions could have been portrayed as opi…

I stopped religiously reading news after I stumbled upon Aaron Swartz's blog post on the topic [0] way back when! I'd say I have been insulated from the depressiveness of it all ever since but also that I've lost the ability to meaningfully participate or contribute to socio/economical/political discussions that seem to dominate any gathering of modest size [1]. [0] http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/hatethenews [1] This…

[1] sounds like a good quote, but keep in mind that the author of that quote was a tacit supporter of Leininsm and Stalinism, and initially supported East Germany's murderous repression of union labor.

In practice many people who "hate politics" are, I think, at least partially motivated by not desiring to get into conversations with people who would call them "illiterate" and "imbecile" for, yanno, not supporting evil authoritarianism and the nonsense pseudophilosophy that motivates it.

I think many people would not "hate politics" were it not for the nature of the politically-motivated to look down on those who disagree.

Re: Reading too much political news is bad for your well-being

#263

Post by diego »

cynicalkane wrote: post #262
ignoramous wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I stopped religiously reading news after I stumbled upon Aaron Swartz's blog post on the topic [0] way back when! I'd say I have been insulated from the depressiveness of it all ever since but also that I've lost the ability to meaningfully participate or contribute to socio/economical/political discussions that seem to dominate any gathering of modest size [1]. [0] http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/hatethenews [1] This…

[1] sounds like a good quote, but keep in mind that the author of that quote was a tacit supporter of Leininsm and Stalinism, and initially supported East Germany's murderous repression of union labor. In practice many people who "hate politics" are, I think, at least partially motivated by not desiring to get into conversations with people who would call them "illiterate" and "imbecile" for, yanno, not supporting ev…

Also keep in mind that the quote is from a different time. Today if something important happens I will find out about it even if I don't want to. An acquaintance will text me, or it will be discussed somewhere (everywhere perhaps) online. You'd have to make a huge effort to be "politically illiterate" in the sense Brecht describes, well beyond not reading the news.

Re: Reading too much political news is bad for your well-being

#264

Post by anonu »

News is akin to social media. Its engineered to capture your attention, albeit, in maybe a psychologically more damaging way. Everything is breaking and urgent, everything is going to kill you, fear and death are around the corner. Otherwise, what's the point of reporting things at their face value?

Re: Reading too much political news is bad for your well-being

#265

Post by vncecartersknee »

yashap wrote: post #254
sgustard wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A couple years ago all you heard about was kids who didn't want to get shot in school. Now it's communities of color who don't want to get shot by police. It sure is a lot nicer to keep my head in the sand.

There are always tonnes of terrible things going on in the world, throughout human history. Hell, my grandfather was an Auschwitz survivor, and his entire immediate family was murdered by Nazis. I think Trump is a terrible, terrible President, causing a tonne of damage to America, but he’s not exactly Hitler, more of a poor man’s Putin. I’m all for having political conversations, even reasonably frequent ones, but ba…

What is the point of this comment? communities of people of colour and the poor were being brutalised by police and school shootings were regular occurrences long before the Trump presidency.

Re: Reading too much political news is bad for your well-being

#266

Post by js2 »

rayiner wrote: post #259
mhneu wrote: post #244

The author, Arthur Brooks, is the past president of a Republican thinktank, AEI. Republicans have a strong incentive to encourage citizens to ignore the political news, because their policies are deeply unpopular. Republicans rely on a non-engaged citizenry for votes. Brooks is one of the Republican elites who shapes Republican political strategy. He has a deep conflict of interest when he tells you to stop reading a…

> Republicans have a strong incentive to encourage citizens to ignore the political news, because their policies are deeply unpopular. Republicans rely on a non-engaged citizenry for votes. Conservatives outnumber liberals in every age bracket above 30, among both men and women, in every income bracket, among every education class except folks with post-graduate degrees, in every region, and among both non-Hispanic w…

OP said Republican policies, which you reframed as conservative vs liberal, while ignoring the middle moderate column.

Many conservative and even some moderate voters might prefer to vote Republican but are uncomfortable doing so due to the current Republican platform which is not only not conservative, but also unwelcoming to anyone but straight white men and their allies.

On GOP policies:

> GOP leads on the economy but trails on other issues, including the coronavirus. By 49% to 40%, registered voters are more likely to say the Republican Party, rather than the Democratic Party, can do a better job on the economy. The Democratic Party holds wide leads on several issues, including climate change, abortion and contraception, health care, issues involving race and ethnicity, and handling the public health impacts of the coronavirus outbreak. Nearly half of voters (47%) say the Democratic Party could do a better job in handling the public health impact of the coronavirus outbreak, compared with 35% who say the GOP could do better.

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/08/13/election-202...

Re: Reading too much political news is bad for your well-being

#267

Post by 6510 »

runawaybottle wrote: post #211
LargoLasskhyfv wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. In 'our' constitution there is the " Recht auf körperliche Unversehrtheit / Right to physical integrity(of your body)" as in it is forbidden to harm you. I'd extend that to a right to mental integrity, which that sort of shit is in continous violation of. And even if you don't directly consume it, the 'overspill' alone is toxic enough. In other words: mass media is one big superfund site.

I’ll concede to the fact that they are in a sense polluting our population (no different than carbon footprint). I don’t know, it’s all very odd given that big tech is banning misinformation now days, but big media has no such imperative. They will run with the most unsubstantiated stuff for however long it’s profitable (Russia-gate). Their modus operandi in terms of carving out markets is to do the opposite of anoth…

It actively writes the public narrative and fills the space in your head but the toxicity is in forcing out that what should have been there. The things that should have been there ideally are feedback loops. Their rewards and punishments encourage you to do your own practical goal oriented thinking. Your head is filled with the war effort therefore you didn't plant that first fruit tree, the other trees and bushes that should have followed didn't happen and you are not eating the fruit reminding you of what you did every year that followed. You in stead read about Chiquita murdering employees and want to buy a banana.

Re: Reading too much political news is bad for your well-being

#268

Post by Mountain_Skies »

caseysoftware wrote: post #148

As I've noted here a few times: Just over 10 years ago, I conducted an experiment. I watched an hour of CNN every night but it was never that night's coverage. It was from exactly two weeks ago. It was amazing how much "breaking news!" was irrelevant or just outright wrong, how many large trend predictions were wrong, and how many "[person] will do X" were wrong. While the predictions could have been portrayed as opi…

I used to live near CNN Center and would go there frequently for lunch. As you'd expect, they had large screens in the atrium so you could watch CNN while you ate or shopped. It was a nice convenience. Over time the tone of what they presented changed drastically and I couldn't stand to listen to it even long enough to eat. Though the content also had declined in quality, it was the tone, the non-stop outrage and anger being presented that made me start eating at Peachtree Center instead. It really was vile and I can't see why anyone would want to pump that into their home and into their brains. It wasn't always that way.

Re: Reading too much political news is bad for your well-being

#270

Post by dragonwriter »

rayiner wrote: post #259
mhneu wrote: post #244

The author, Arthur Brooks, is the past president of a Republican thinktank, AEI. Republicans have a strong incentive to encourage citizens to ignore the political news, because their policies are deeply unpopular. Republicans rely on a non-engaged citizenry for votes. Brooks is one of the Republican elites who shapes Republican political strategy. He has a deep conflict of interest when he tells you to stop reading a…

> Republicans have a strong incentive to encourage citizens to ignore the political news, because their policies are deeply unpopular. Republicans rely on a non-engaged citizenry for votes. Conservatives outnumber liberals in every age bracket above 30, among both men and women, in every income bracket, among every education class except folks with post-graduate degrees, in every region, and among both non-Hispanic w…

> > Republicans have a strong incentive to encourage citizens to ignore the political news, because their policies are deeply unpopular.

> Conservatives outnumber liberals

Perhaps, but “people who identify as conservative” and “people who support Republicans’ concrete policies” have no necessary relation.

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