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Reading the news is the new smoking

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Re: Reading the news is the new smoking

#61

Post by iamnothere »

dghlsakjg wrote: post #45
appplication wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the counterpoint to this is that we are collectively getting more news and more updates than ever before and we’re still in the situation of today. I can’t argue with your premise because I agree, but the empirical data shows that if anything there is a positive correlation between accessibility of information and further descent into… whatever it is you’d describe is our modern situation. It may not be causative…

Not all information is equal. If you read a wide spectrum of news sources with high standards (established non-tabloid newspapers and reputable long form publishers), I would be willing to bet that you are far better off (pick any metric) than someone spending the same amount of time with OAN/Fox/Daily Mail, etc. This goes for someone anywhere on the political spectrum; I'm not just picking on the right. I would much…

Mainstream news is as bad as the social media rumor mill, just in different ways. The MSM has problems with groupthink and huge blind spots which can lead people astray, but it’s wrapped in a presentable package, so average people are more likely to trust it blindly. Alt media tends to either be BS propaganda, or highly competent in one very specific domain (occasionally venturing out of that area, to its own detriment), but it’s very difficult to discern which it is based on appearances or even quality of writing.

The only solution for a thinking person is to read widely and synthesize all your knowledge into a slightly more accurate picture of the whole.

Social media and fringe alt media can be bad for people with cognitive issues, but that’s not a reason to get rid of them.

(Note, there are many times when both the MSM and most of the alt media present a distorted picture! I would argue the ongoing Iran crisis is one of those times.)

Re: Reading the news is the new smoking

#62

Post by Aromasin »

GlibMonkeyDeath wrote: post #19
Aromasin wrote: post #7

In the same vein as this article, the best thing I've ever done might just be leaving my phone by the front door when I get home, and getting rid of our TV. All I do is read books, paint, fix-up the house, tend to the garden, play boardgames, and generally do things that require me to be present when at home with my wife and child, rather than in someone else's version of the world. We go stir crazy at home now, a se…

>All I do is read books, paint, fix-up the house, tend to the garden, play boardgames, and generally do things that require me to be present when at home with my wife and child, rather than in someone else's version of the world And post on HN? :)

What else am I to do when waiting for my chip simulations to run? Be present with my colleagues? There are limits.

Re: Reading the news is the new smoking

#63

Post by Aromasin »

dadkins wrote: post #48
Aromasin wrote: post #7

In the same vein as this article, the best thing I've ever done might just be leaving my phone by the front door when I get home, and getting rid of our TV. All I do is read books, paint, fix-up the house, tend to the garden, play boardgames, and generally do things that require me to be present when at home with my wife and child, rather than in someone else's version of the world. We go stir crazy at home now, a se…

I'm of two minds about this. Facebook and Instagram keep me connected with friends, new and old. True, they're filled with algorithmic crap now, but when I tried ditching them for a while, it didn't improve my connections with people. If anything, I lost touch with people because that's where they were. I'm much better off knowing what my friends -- many who have scattered -- are up to, and giving casual updates myse…

Note that by leaving them by the front door I don't mean abstain. I relent that it is necessary for communication now we don't use letters or have landlines, but I need to actively walk to the front door if I wish to do that. Notifications are something I check when I leave the house in the morning, or briefly after the gym in the car perhaps, rather than being all I do for the majority of the time I sit in the house. The act of it being at the entrance and allowed no further is enough.

Re: Reading the news is the new smoking

#64

Post by jimt1234 »

dghlsakjg wrote: post #45
appplication wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the counterpoint to this is that we are collectively getting more news and more updates than ever before and we’re still in the situation of today. I can’t argue with your premise because I agree, but the empirical data shows that if anything there is a positive correlation between accessibility of information and further descent into… whatever it is you’d describe is our modern situation. It may not be causative…

Not all information is equal. If you read a wide spectrum of news sources with high standards (established non-tabloid newspapers and reputable long form publishers), I would be willing to bet that you are far better off (pick any metric) than someone spending the same amount of time with OAN/Fox/Daily Mail, etc. This goes for someone anywhere on the political spectrum; I'm not just picking on the right. I would much…

> This goes for someone anywhere on the political spectrum; I'm not just picking on the right.

I respectfully object to this. I’m thinking of research that was done a few years ago, measuring American’s knowledge of current events. The folks in the research that leaned right were generally more informed - meaning, they knew about a lot more currents events. But they were also overwhelmingly wrong about what they ‘knew’. Further, folks on the right tended to rate themselves higher than left-leaning folks wrt their knowledge, even though they were wrong a lot more.

Re: Reading the news is the new smoking

#65

Post by dadkins »

Aromasin wrote: post #63
dadkins wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm of two minds about this. Facebook and Instagram keep me connected with friends, new and old. True, they're filled with algorithmic crap now, but when I tried ditching them for a while, it didn't improve my connections with people. If anything, I lost touch with people because that's where they were. I'm much better off knowing what my friends -- many who have scattered -- are up to, and giving casual updates myse…

Note that by leaving them by the front door I don't mean abstain. I relent that it is necessary for communication now we don't use letters or have landlines, but I need to actively walk to the front door if I wish to do that. Notifications are something I check when I leave the house in the morning, or briefly after the gym in the car perhaps, rather than being all I do for the majority of the time I sit in the house…

That makes sense, and is a fine approach.

Re: Reading the news is the new smoking

#66

Post by wookmaster »

afavour wrote: post #27

This feels dangerous. Being obsessed with reading the news, watching endless cable news, getting steams of push notifications… yeah, unhealthy. But completely ignorance of what’s going on in the world is not something to be lauded. It’s how we’ve ended up in the situation we find ourselves in today, a fact free environment where politicians get away with murder (sometimes literally!) because so many people aren’t pay…

I’m not sure I agree because it was used to manipulate people into where we are today. News quality is a real problem. So much of it’s been bought and corrupted.
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