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Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#801

Post by culi »

pooper wrote: post #706
prox wrote: post #698

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s also an alarm bell right there. If the answer to the question “Does this article/headline want me to feel anything?” is Yes, than it’s emotional bait. If its “boring” than it’s probably more neutral. Emotional reactivity is the psychological name I believe. High reactivity means more anxiety, stress and sometimes sign of a disorder.

Here is one example of what I think is boring. Is this what you had in mind? ---- Bank of England Cuts Interest Rates as British Economy Weakens The central bank cut rates for the third time in about six months as it said growth had been weaker than expected.

Good counterexample. Clear bias while still being boring

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#802

Post by jandrese »

Bhilai wrote: post #785
majgr wrote: post #570

Living in Poland ruled by trumpists for 8 years I have these experiences: - Get subscription of high value newspaper or magazine. Professionals work there, so you will get real facts, worthy opinions and less emotions. - It is better to not use social media. You never know if you are discussing with normal person, a political party troll, or Russian troll. - It is not worth discussing with „switched-on” people. They…

> Get subscription of high value newspaper or magazine. Professionals work there, so you will get real facts, worthy opinions and less emotions. I struggle with this. It's incredibly challenging to find reliable, unbiased news sources these days, especially with the perceived slant of many major outlets. It's discouraging when even subscriptions to reputable publications like the NYT and WSJ leave you feeling like yo…

So many once great media outlets were bought by billionaires and now all have the same editorial slant. It's extremely frustrating. In there modern world where would Woodward and Bernstein work? Propublica? Even where there is a will to do that kind of work the funding is even harder to secure. The reporters have to pick and choose their stories.

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#803

Post by Bhilai »

michaelmdresser wrote: post #795
Bhilai wrote: post #785

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Get subscription of high value newspaper or magazine. Professionals work there, so you will get real facts, worthy opinions and less emotions. I struggle with this. It's incredibly challenging to find reliable, unbiased news sources these days, especially with the perceived slant of many major outlets. It's discouraging when even subscriptions to reputable publications like the NYT and WSJ leave you feeling like yo…

I’ve been sticking to the weekly edition of The Economist for years to stay informed while escaping the news cycle. The US coverage is remarkably good. The weekly cadence mean I’m often a week behind the news, but to me that’s a feature. The editorial pieces (those expressing “the opinion of the newspaper”) are kept separate as “Leaders” and I read them last, if it all; I usually read each issue back-to-front followi…

I liked content from The Economist in the past but thought of them as more focused on the world affairs. Will try them out for sure.

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#804

Post by nervousvarun »

wonderwonder wrote: post #707
majgr wrote: post #570

Living in Poland ruled by trumpists for 8 years I have these experiences: - Get subscription of high value newspaper or magazine. Professionals work there, so you will get real facts, worthy opinions and less emotions. - It is better to not use social media. You never know if you are discussing with normal person, a political party troll, or Russian troll. - It is not worth discussing with „switched-on” people. They…

"It is not worth discussing with „switched-on” people. They are getting high doses of emotional content, they are made to feel like victims, facts does not matter at all. Political beliefs are intermingled with religious beliefs." This is fascinating to watch in the current environment. People are decent in real life for the most part but on social media its as if all manner of restraint are removed. Post anything di…

FAAFO is a real thing that influences human behavior.

We learn it as kids on the playground.

There is almost zero FAAFO with discussions on the internet.

And each passing year, there is less playground.

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#805

Post by jrm4 »

majgr wrote: post #570

Living in Poland ruled by trumpists for 8 years I have these experiences: - Get subscription of high value newspaper or magazine. Professionals work there, so you will get real facts, worthy opinions and less emotions. - It is better to not use social media. You never know if you are discussing with normal person, a political party troll, or Russian troll. - It is not worth discussing with „switched-on” people. They…

> Get subscription of high value newspaper or magazine. Professionals work there, so you will get real facts, worthy opinions and less emotions.

But, definitely understand what you are getting into here: Paraphrasing Nassim Nicholas Taleb, who notes that if you'd like to be cured of reading newspapers, read last years' newspapers.

I think they're good for understanding "what people are talking about these days" as well as any statements that are literal facts, but anything in-between will be pretty fraught with the same issues as e.g. social media.

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#806

Post by buttercraft »

derangedHorse wrote: post #691
macNchz wrote: post #631

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> slippery slope arguments If we review democracies through history that have at some point become less democratic, I think describing the process of how that actually happens as being a slippery slope is quite apt. I’d say it’s more of a fallacy to assume that democracy is a secure default state of being rather than an ideal that we must collectively support or lose entirely—that we can safely “slip” a little withou…

The reason why a slippery slope is a fallacy is that the starting point is an arbitrary threshold. Nothing here indicates the end of democracy to me. To someone looking to find some indication, anything can look like the beginning of the end.

Well, if you wait until that threshold is crossed, it's already too late!

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#807

Post by troyvit »

koolba wrote: post #786
sjsdaiuasgdia wrote: post #742

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of the problem is the incredible corruption at the Supreme Court. The courts increasingly can't be trusted to be a stopgap. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/06/supreme-court-justices-milli... Then you have the current administration making veiled threats against senators to ensure they vote as intended. https://www.rawstory.com/morning-joe-today-2671089005/ This is why we need reinforcement of the governmental struc…

> Part of the problem is the incredible corruption at the Supreme Court. The courts increasingly can't be trusted to be a stopgap. Just because a body disagrees with your desired interpretation of the law does not mean its corrupt. I disagree with the liberal justices on just about every split decision, but I don't think they're on the take. They simply have a different philosophy of the law. I challenge you to find…

> I challenge you to find any specific court case taking up by the SCOTUS where you think the outcome was the result of corruption.

The presidential immunity case is another good one:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_v._United_States_(2024)

I think the first question to ask is, if the U.S. had a democratic president during the time of this judgement, would the vote granting presidential still have been 6-3 along party lines?

Perhaps if it had been a democrat president more of the liberal justices would have voted for it too, but that still indicates a corrupted court. It's just corrupted the other way.

There was additional appearance of corruption in that Alito refused to recuse himself even though he projected a clear bias towards the Jan. 6 riots by both flying a flag supporting the rioters [1].

It's nine un-elected people with no term limits who make up a third of our government. No matter who is in charge it's going to be a little corrupt I'd say.

[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/scotus-alito-flag-controversy-...

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#808

Post by NickC25 »

Bhilai wrote: post #803
michaelmdresser wrote: post #795

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve been sticking to the weekly edition of The Economist for years to stay informed while escaping the news cycle. The US coverage is remarkably good. The weekly cadence mean I’m often a week behind the news, but to me that’s a feature. The editorial pieces (those expressing “the opinion of the newspaper”) are kept separate as “Leaders” and I read them last, if it all; I usually read each issue back-to-front followi…

I liked content from The Economist in the past but thought of them as more focused on the world affairs. Will try them out for sure.

I too enjoyed The Economist's reporting on foreign affairs and world news.

I found their editorials to be completely wacky and out of touch.

Same could be said for the WSJ.

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#809

Post by Spooky23 »

purple-leafy wrote: post #507
Spooky23 wrote: post #500

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did the same thing but brought back Facebook and Instagram. The controls are great if you spend time filtering — I actually enjoy both now. If you want to stay informed. Apple News. Same deal, filter away. Ditch The NY Times and pick a few newspapers domestic and international. You’ll get news without the bullshit:

I don’t want to stay informed though. What’s the point? You can’t really do anything about events in life anyway outside your own family and yourself. You can only react. So I just don’t stay informed anymore. Ignorance is bliss

Fair. In my line of work, certain things are relevant to my work life and it’s good to know. In fairness my focus is local and features.

I don’t really care about what Clarence Thomas was bribed about today.

Re: Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

#810

Post by prox »

culi wrote: post #801
pooper wrote: post #706

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is one example of what I think is boring. Is this what you had in mind? ---- Bank of England Cuts Interest Rates as British Economy Weakens The central bank cut rates for the third time in about six months as it said growth had been weaker than expected.

Good counterexample. Clear bias while still being boring

What is the bias here, not familiar with British banks or its economy atm.

It certainly doesn’t sound controversial and clickbait at first glance, doing what banks do.

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